Black and dark metal sweep in from the tail end of last year, crossing the threshold of 2023 like an icy gust from a door left open. But there is also more vibrant life peeking out from below the layer of frost.
Abysm – Sol Invictus (EP)
Genre: Thrash/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Starting the year with some thrashiness in the vein of Testament mixed with old school melodeath. It’s got a suitable darkness and morbidity to it, although the tone feels cold, almost touching on black metal. The performances leave a little to be desired, but the enthusiasm is certainly there.
Ancient Ruins – Hexahedron
Genre: Heavy/doom metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
A heavy metal solo project that scores highest with the originality factor. It mixes adventurous riff harmonies with a doomy atmosphere and snarly, harsh vocals. Unfortunately, the arrangements end up feeling fairly clumsy, and so you stumble your way through the album rather than flow.
Bereave – Bereave (EP)
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A three song EP with some very proficiently performed melodeath in the vein of Mors Principium Est. If you dig Finnish melodeath, you’re gonna dig this. Heavy riff gallops, plenty of playful melody and groove. What you don’t get a ton of, unfortunately, is character, and so this gets a bit lost in the release maelstrom.
Celestial Shadows – The Tragedy of Calufrax
Genre: Experimental black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Synth-infused, atmospheric, spooky-toned black metal with muted vocals. You get several intrumental tracks and some fairly aggressive ones that sounds like they’ve been sand-blown to the bone production wise. Characterful, although not particularly powerful.
Concrete Age – Bardo Thodol
Genre: Groove/folk metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Who would think that Buddhist-themed metal would sound like this? You’d probably expect something serene, in the vein of chilled-out Devin Townsend, with an Eastern flavor. Well, the flavor is certainly there, in the form of Russian/Eastern folk elements, but this is far from tranquil. The aggressive stuff is up there with the heaviest groove bands, and the rest brings some properly entertaining folk/power metal energy without ever getting cheesy. Perhaps not as bold as there is potential for, but I bet it’s a ton of fun live.
Highlights: “Purity” and “Bezdna ot Ludost”.
Decortication – Necrolatry: A Morbid Worship
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Filthy, gritty death metal with a barebones, chaos-inclined kind of expression. You get moments of groove and fist-balling evil, but mostly it’s fairly run-of-the-mill.
Hand of Doom – Stray from the Path
Genre: Melodic death/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5
An atmosphere-leaning, yet high-tempo melodeath album with a lean sound and affinity for primitive thrash riffing. What I can’t tell is if the drums are meant to be that off-beat, but I don’t think it works in either case.
Horre – Kuumet
Genre: Atmospheric doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Some wispy, echoing-through-the-fog funeral doom with low, spectre-growl vocals and a synth-generated atmosphere. The experience is consistently melancholic without feeling too static or repetitive, and there are faint glimmers of light in the gloom every now and then.
The Howling Void – Into Darkness Ever More Profound
Genre: Atmospheric doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Here we got some funeral doom with a certain cinematic feel to it – each lengthy song describing a slight new turn in the story, or a new setting for it to play out in. The tone is not altogether tragic, and while certainly bleak at times, it seems to speak of better times both past and ahead. It’s thoroughly unhurried, with no particular changes in rhythm, and so makes for a distinctly slow-motion experience.
Iravu – A Fate Worse than Home
Genre: Progressive black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A cosmically inclined, slightly free-form black metal album with a big void in the middle of the sound, muting the vocal- and instrumental performances. The atmospheric guitar-driven melodies are bold and exploratory, and serve as the highlights of the record.
Sinusitis – Evolution Seven Gates of Hell
Genre: Death/groove metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A spirited death metal sound with a diabolical tinge and just enough groove to keep it lively. The production doesn’t do the drums any favors, but the enthusiasm still shines through, and the progression feels suitably urgent.
Throat Locust – Dragged Through Glass EP
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
A fierce death metal EP that sounds like the rusty blades of giants scraping against each other. It’s an unrelenting assault of crushing pressure from start to finish, while still taking its time to deliver some tasty morsels of crispy groove and neck-slicing guitar solos at opportune moments. There should be enough both old-school primitive and modern finesse in here to satisfy both these camps as well. Not a bad kickstart to the year.
Highlight: “Axe Grinder”.
Turpitude – Une interprétation de la dissolution glaciale en quatre mouvements
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
For an atmospheric and slightly experimental black metal record, this one certainly gets straight on with the task at hand. There are lulls in the intensity, but at no time does the progression come to a halt. The sound is fairly condensed and packed with lamenting melody, and while the variation might lie mostly in the nuances, it feels like you’re taking the full journey throughout these 4 songs.
Varmia – Prolog (EP)
Genre: Black/folk metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Three songs of forceful, blackened folk/death metal to properly hype you for things to come. The drums thunder, guitars claw and rend, and vocals brimming with conviction demonstrate a palate of approaches that all expertly match the ritualistic tone. Makes you want to strap some bones and skulls to your battle jacket.
Highlight: “Oddal”.
Vosbúð – Heklugjá
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
An aggressive and mildly chaotic take on folk leaning black metal. The drum work gets quite interesting throughout, and they explore some strong melody lines. In the end though, the impression is that of a fairly traditional low-fi black metal record.
Zeup – Mammals
Genre: Stoner metal/rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Groove all day long. This is politely heavy and smooth stoner with very sparse use of vocals. It’s not in a hurry to get anywhere of importance, but if you just wanna chill with the crunch for a wile, it’s a good place to hang out.
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 