This week seems to be about all forms of death metal save the actual core version of the subgenre. Doom, melodic, technical and progressive are all at the forefront though.
Ad Omega – Aphelic Ascent
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
An unholy cacophony of bitter riff tone, imposing rhythms and dissonant lead work. At its best it feels very on point for a conceptual approach, and deserves its serious demeanor, although part of that is inviting in a lot of non-melodic, noisy turbulence that can feel stagnant to someone not leaning deeply into the material.
Aphyxion – Ad Astra
Genre: Metalcore/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Aggressive, yet heavily sing-along chorus-oriented modern metalcore with dissonant djent-riffs and synth-infused, radio-friendly melodies.
Big Laugh – Consume Me
Genre: Hardcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
A garbage-bin-to-car-window, energetic hardcore onslaught loaded with punk attitude. There’s enough garage rock groove in there to invite some rhythmic head shaking and fist throwing as well. If you’ve got a shred of punk spirit then this will get you in a good mood.
Cadaver Shrine – Benighted Desecration
Genre: Death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Real rough-around-the-edges death doom that sounds ultra sinister. It leans more or less into an abyssal doom space, but has several dominant up-tempo death metal chug sections that are probably the highlights of the album. All in all this is the kind of thing that makes you feel like nothing will ever be right in the world ever again.
Delain – Dark Waters
Genre: Symphonic/pop metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Delain are back and offering… pretty much exactly what you’d expect, with solid pop melodies and power metal rhythms delivered with plenty of symphonic umph. This is the perfect lift-you-up if you’ve dug yourself a little too deep into a depressive funeral doom slump and just need to soak in the light of a sonic sun for a while. But I wouldn’t go as far as calling it anything special.
Distant – Heritage
Genre: Deathcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
A planet-scale invasion of machines expressing their fury through a monumental sonic assault. This is deathcore stomping hard on the brutality pedal and delivering it with artificial precision. It sounds massive, but there’s a feeling that its layers are there for the sake of the force of the impact alone. For someone not completely sold on the deathcore formula, this will likely seem rather by-the-numbers.
Flub – Dream Worlds (EP)
Genre: Technical/progressive death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Who said that technical death metal has to sound like a multi-limbed automaton gone apeshit? Flub brings the neoclassical touch to the table, and it just makes everything better. It’s adventurous and melodic, while allowing in all of the aggression and furious insectoid technicality that you’ll be craving. It’s a short one this, but offers instrumental versions of all the tracks as a bonus, which turns out to actually have some value in that you can completely devote your concentration to the brilliant playing.
Highlight: “Paracosm”.
Fredlös – Fredlös
Genre: Folk/black/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
A blackened folk journey along the darker parts of the Scandinavian medieval landscape. This has a mystic quality to it, and offers up pagan melody, a doom-heavy bottom tone and some black metal melancholic aggression. There is some disharmony to the vocal-instrumental meld that seems a little off, but it’s probably intentional.
Frozen Dawn – The Decline of the Enlightened Gods
Genre: Melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
There’s a very up-front appeal to dark metal played with a classic heavy metal approach. The vocals and instrumental tone are all dialed in to “unholy”, and then the tempo and lead guitar work comes in and mostly ignores it. Depressive turns to peppy and icicle-to-the-eye guitar solos turn adventurous and just a tad sleazy. This one still manages to hold on to an air of black majesty, and there’s a pleasing fullness to the sound that safely lands it in the melodic black metal camp. While not particularly rich in standout moments, this is a highly enjoyable record that reaches both inwards and outwards from the purely black metal sphere.
Highlight: “Wanderer of Times”.
In Flames – Foregone
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Is this the day that we finally declare In Flames to be back on form? The day that most old school fans had given up hope on? Well, as always, it depends. If you just want more of Clayman-and-earlier-era In Flames, then the answer is about as much no as yes, but if all you care about is the band turning back to actual melodic death metal, then we might very well be on to something. And that’s probably where I’ll leave the expectations part of this review behind. Foregone sees the band not only darkening the tone and upping the aggression, but genuinely leaning into old school Gothenburg influences and that sprinkling of Scandinavian folk melody that helped define them. But there’s never any doubt that the guys have moved on. There’s a mildness and catchy groove that at this point seems ingrained in their musical approach, and the result is that this is still, to a certain point, death metal for the masses. Bottom line though, the material on here feels purposeful, rock solid, and made with both old and new fans in mind. Personally, as a long time fan, I’m delighted to say that the wait has been worth it.
Highlights: “State of Slow Decay” and “Foregone, Pt. 1”.
Negative Blast – Echo Planet
Genre: Hardcore/garage rock
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Major Kvelertak vibes with this one. Although you don’t get as much of a conceptual feel, there’s a strong identity that’s mostly tied to the somewhat bluesy, kind of black n’ roll tone. It certainly helps elevate what is otherwise mostly spirited garage rock to a sort of hardcore equivalent of Witchery area, and ain’t nothing wrong with that.
Oak – Disintegrate
Genre: Doom/death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Yes, this is a single 45-minute sullen-toned doom track, so you can see the Bell Witch comparison coming a mile away. This is much more in the realm of death doom, however, and so you never really find the funeral doom label fitting too well. That means, to put it plainly, “more” content, higher tempo and a whole other level of blatant aggression. The melodies tremble with sorrow and misery, but it’s not a slowly grinding millstone of world-ending proportions, as it relies more on the flow of intensity in the instrumental and vocal performances than simply atmosphere. The production hasn’t left as much a feeling of grandeur as might have been fitting for a song of such epic proportions, but on the flipside you get a more directly engaging listening experience.
Terrestrial Hospice – Caviary To The General
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Some bile-spitting black metal for you. With the incessant drum attack and straightforward format of the songs, you get a feeling that they’re in a hurry to get to the finish line. They do pull out a few tricks along the way though, with some haunting backing-tremolo that sounds like a ceremonious pledge towards the stars of the night sky. Mostly though, they seem content to roam inferno.
Thin – Dusk
Genre: Mathgrind
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Sheeez, this is some fiendish stuff to try to get into. It’s like an on/off torture method with semi-regular intervals. Everything is either sharp, shrieking, dissonant or harsh, and completely out of control. An then the roughly 14-minute runtime comes to an end and you wonder what the hell you just heard. A trip, for sure.
Veilcaste – Precipice
Genre: Sludge/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A slow-running, viscous thing that’s also full of gravel. It’s sludge brought down to a doom tempo, which puts the heavy groove into the spotlight, along with the dissonant elements that are trying to compete with the cosmic atmosphere.
View From The Soyuz – Immaculate (EP)
Genre: Hardcore/metalcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Metallic hardcore with some strong early As I Lay Dying and Machine Head vibes. It’s aggressive and direct, yet visits a series of moods and influences during the span of its limited runtime. Apart from metalcore and groove, there’s some thrash and a good bit of old school melodeath. There are seriously catchy breakdowns and engaging melodic details. But the best part is that they never see the need to go soft. A clenched-fist approach seem to fit the band beautifully, and they pour that energy out into their clearly emphatic performances.
Highlights: “Caligula” and “Sky Burial”.
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 