With darkness and rage fueling the fire of this week, a few outsiders choosing their own path rises above the conflagration.
As Light Dies – The Laniakea Architecture, Volume II
Genre: Gothic metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
An aggressive and dissonant, but also at times melodic and atmospheric, variant of gothic metal that has traces of the dramatic nature of such bands as Fleshgod Apocalypse.
Asphagor – Pyrogenesis
Genre: Melodic black/death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
A black metal album that succeeds in bringing together some of the progressive elements of the likes of Enslaved, a taste of grandeur and brutality from melodic death metal, a bit of gothic tone, traces of a black n’ roll riff approach, and otherwise all the things that make a modern, well-produced black metal record sound good. It’s aggressive and to-the-point, but also knows how to let in some doom-laden atmosphere every now and then, eschewing the thin and chaotic style of the more “raw” side of the subgenre spectrum. All in all it’s a very complete and well put together package.
Highlights: “Nine Moons” and “The Great Erosion”.
Astriferous – Pulsations From The Black Orb
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
This is chaotic and mystic death metal that does not try very hard to be listener friendly. Sure, there are some nice riffs in there, but the music shape shifts as soon as you get into a semblance of a groove. It feels very deliberate though, and the instrumental work is laudable.,
Bastard Grave – Vortex of Disgust
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Grimy, brutal and horror-tinged death metal with an old school feel, but the fullness of a more modern production. It wants to take you to a bad place full of monster and laugh at you as you run around in terror. Not really unique among its peers, but solid.
Depraved Murder – Unethical Terrestrial Collapse
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
If you’re into the more over the top brutal branch of the death metal tree, then this will be pure popcorn. It’s all about the riffs, and a bit more groove might have pushed it up to something amazing. As it is, you’ll quickly forget about it after a couple of listens.
Dirge – Dirge
Genre: Doom/sludge metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Stretched-out dark and sad atmosphere with waves of heavy outrage. The production is a bit low-fi muddled, which is an understandable style choice, but also kills a lot of detail.
Excelerate – Arrival
Genre: Thrash/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A spirited meld of classic heavy metal and thrash with slightly stumbling performances and ultimately a lack of originality,
Frozen Crown – Call of the North
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
A rather technical power metal album with a highly competent mix of male and female vocals and a wicked guitar tone. The tone is exactly as medieval and epic as you want, with a neoclassical approach to some of the solo guitar work. It sounds triumphant, but not silly or overly optimistic, with a symphonic grandeur to the choruses and lyrics that you actually take sort of seriously, helped by a confident and practiced vocal delivery. You enjoy melodic metal, you’ll have a blast with this one.
Highlights: “Black Heart” and “Until the End”.
Gorod – The Orb
Genre: Progressive/technical death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5
A wild and energetic maelstrom of vibrant technicality that goes beyond subgenre conventions to deliver a pleasing mix of unpredictability, familiarity, insanity and awe-inspiring control. It’s not a cold lesson in advanced instrumentation nor a purely aggressive thing. The melodies are allowed to permeate the material to such a degree that the songs take on strong identities, and the shifts in tempo and mood all have enough of a purpose not to mess up the flow.
Highlights: “We Are the Sun Gods” and “Breeding Silence”.
Håndgemeng – Ultraritual
Genre: Stoner/doom metal/rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
A hard and rowdy throw-together of old school doom, stoner fuzz and some sludgy grit. There are the same traces of Scandinavian garage rock that you get with Kvelertak all over this, so if you enjoy that attitude, here’s more of it.
The Human Race Is Filth – Cognitive Dissonance
Genre: Sludge/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A disturbingly noisy and gutter-toned brutal sludge project. If you want your mind invaded by grimy insects, and a touch of groove, then this might be for you.
Ice Age – Waves Of Loss And Power
Genre: Progressive metal/rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Gentle, melodic prog metal with a hopeful tone and a storytelling kind of mood. It’s not your typical over-the-top fantasy nerd fest, rather something more focused, a bit more like Rush, but without quite the same musical chops or originality.
Isole – Anesidora
Genre: Doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
An expansive, epic-leaning doom album with lofty, yet morose vocals and melody. There are clear folk elements in here, as well as a bit of heaviness borrowed from melodeath, but it’s the slower, mildly lamenting sections that get to dominate.
Judiciary – Flesh + Blood
Genre: Hardcore/thrash/groove metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
A crushing scorcher of a groove-tinged hardcore record leaning heavily into thrash riffing. The production elevates it beyond your typical street corner stomper into something with an actual dark and threatening atmosphere. The guitars sound massive, and the whole thing feels like it has the potency to shake the walls of a skyscraper. The aggression rages on from start to finish, and there is more than enough hooks and instrumental variations to keep it interesting throughout.
Highlights: “Engulfed” and “Knife in the Dirt”.
Nanowar Of Steel – Dislike To False Metal
Genre: Power/comedy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
This is pretty pointless without the music videos, but will deliver enough rousing riffage and enjoyable parody for fans of the light-hearted, fun end of the metal spectrum.
Noxium Ferus – Blasphemicon
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Uncomplicated blackened death metal that’s all about the riffs. In a few ways it sounds a lot like Amon Amarth, but largely lacks the heft to really measure up.
Periphery – Periphery V: Djent Is Not A Genre
Genre: Djent/metalcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
With an album title like that, I am of course left with no other choice but to change the genre description from “progressive extreme metal” into something more appropriate. In any case, this is the kind of aggressive, experimental metalcore that feels truly… free. Like the band is doing exactly what the members feel like. In that regard, it has a triumphant, and even personal touch to it, even as it sounds just as big and bold as your would expect. There are several elements, especially in the cleaner sections, that are less distinct, but it’s performed with such conviction that it takes on a flavor of its own.
Rezn – Solace
Genre: Atmospheric doom metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5
Let go of your woes and troubles and take flight into an alternate world where none of that matters. Here, that which you can sense is all-consuming. Soothing, inspiring, rousing and humbling. This is doom mostly free of conventions. It’s slow, but earns it by not getting into a drone, instead moving forward and shifting moods very organically. There is more atmospheric melody than heaviness, but the darkness is ever present, as well as an awe-inspiring cinematic scope. Seriously immersive, and brilliantly executed.
Highlights: “Reversal” and “Webbed Roots”.
Sacrificium – Oblivion
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Aggressive and nihilist-toned melodic death metal with traces of thrash and groove. You get the impression that there’s an intended concept, or at least overarching theme at play here, although the compositions are a little too straightforward to really bring it to fruition.
Sönambula – Estasis Interrumpida
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Grimy, filthy death metal that utilizes a tried and tested approach to deliver mildly chaotic, mildly riff-oriented, boulder-crushing-through-stubborn-persistence stuff.
Straight Hate – Slaves Of Falseness
Genre: Grindcore/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A relentless and wicked-sounding, though not overly repetitive or tiring, grindcore train running on crusty death tracks. There’s a little far between them, but there are definite highlights on this.
Suicide Silence – Remember… You Must Die
Genre: Deathcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Heavy, heavy, heavy. This one’s all about the piston riffs and sledgehammer percussion. Massive grooves and raw aggression blends to create something quite forceful, and there’s enough innovation along the way to separate it from the herd. Their approach has enough death metal morbidity in it to single it out from the typical modern deathcore over-produced cacophony, instead leaning on a venomous, bared-fangs tone that gets your primal blood pumping.
Highlights: “Capable of Violence (N.F.W.)” and “Full Void”.
Tribe Of Pazuzu – Blasphemous Prophecies
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Wish that all blackened death metal sounded more like Vader? This one is a pure chug-fest, with chopping drums and big, feral vocals. There’s also a lot of evil whammy-squeals and blistering solos. In other words, more the soundtrack to a demonic assault on heaven’s gates than to a secretive, unholy ritual. The performances are very tight, and everything sounds just right for the chosen approach.
Highlights: “We Serve Under No God” and “Born of a Jackal”.
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 