A week for fire and fury, with the occult whispers of darker and moodier material lurking just off to the side in the shadows.
Children Of The Reptile – Heavy Is The Head
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Chatter-riffed new wave of traditional heavy metal with a bit of a glam-tone thing going on, and vocals that unfortunately harmonize rather poorly.
Cultura Tres – Camino De Brujos
Genre: Sludge metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Very conceptual-feeling psychedelia-leaning sludge metal with heavy, Sepultura-like tribal riffs, painting a twisted picture of the world.
Descent Into Maelstrom – Dei Consentes
Genre: Progressive death metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Utterly disharmonic and white-knuckle technical death metal in a non-atmospheric or conceptually coherent way.
Devangelic – Xul
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
It’s not actually that often you hear death metal this threatening outside the blackened variant of the subgenre. The bass-end is a towering presence on this record, without taking a distinguishable shape, allowing the brutal vocals and chattering drums to the forefront along with the slightly muted, chugging riffs. The variation is not huge, but the intent is crystal clear along the way, and very confidently executed.
Dystersol – Anaemic
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Surprisingly catchy melodeath with some groove metal tendencies and mild folk touches, it runs a little out of ideas towards the end but remains entertaining throughout.
Ernte – Albsegen
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
There is clearly an idea behind this piece of black metal, but the execution of it offers little to differentiate it from the misanthropic masses.
Exdestrier – Glorious Barbarism (EP)
Genre: Sludge/black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Coarse, rowdy sludge with a riff-eager black metal side to it, a great production, just perhaps not the most obvious drive behind it.
The Grifted – Doomsday & Salvation
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
This is dirty, bare-knuckle, death metal which leans back to the (un)melodic Swedish old ways of crusty riffs and a bit of gloom on top.
Heathen Foray – Oathbreaker
Genre: Folk/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Festival-pleasing, catchy and energetic, folky melodeath with straightforward rhythms and enough depth to be intermittently rousing.
Lo! – The Gleaners
Genre: Sludge/black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
This is a stark, ragdoll-shake experience of a blackened sludge album. The vocals snarl like a furious canine, the drums are rhythmic sledgehammer blows and the guitars vary between mildly somber tremolo and truly ripping riffs. Every song feels like a statement rather than a musical piece, with a bit of a staccato feel to the progression, but each moment is utilized very deliberately.
Highlights: “Salting the Earth” and “Kleptoparasite”.
Medevil – Mirror in the Darkness
Genre: Thrash/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
A bit of an odd mix of thrash, prog and classic metal elements that feels stumbling at times, but also showcases individual technical talent.
Omnicidal – The Omnicidalist
Genre: (Melodic) death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
The band itself states that they set out to meld old school Swedish death metal with the more melodic Gothenburg sound, and that’s pretty much exactly what you get. And it fucking rips! A bit grindy, a bit crusty, with plenty of aggression, ample doses of groove in the right places and melodic sections that don’t run away from the core flow. Not super innovative, perhaps, but you get varied tempos, a bit of horror and a bit of action, and plenty of grit.
Highlights: “By Knife” and “Narcissistic Abuse”.
Paraphilia – The Memory Of Death Given Form
Genre: Technical/brutal death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Thunderous, rhythmic death metal with a modern, brutal yet crisp sound and a bit of technical and progressive tendencies towards the unconventional.
Powerwolf – Interludium
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Pure fan service in the form of an EP’s worth of new music, some previously released tracks, and (on the special edition) covers by other bands and orchestral versions. Expect no surprises, but also no letdowns.
Raider – Trial By Chaos
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
This is absolutely ripping thrash taking a jerrycan of death metal rage to an already blazing riff attack. With snarling harsh vocals, a modern, well-produced sound mixed with a handful of old-school elements and absolutely no way in sight but forward, this is an adrenaline rush for those who don’t mind that extra level of intensity to their thrash.
Highlights: “Labyrinth” and “Trial By Chaos”.
Rise Of The Northstar – Showdown
Genre: Hardcore/groove/nu metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Big, bread-and-butter riffs with hardcore energy, slick production and a good dose of groove.
SaviorSkin – Invicta Mori
Genre: Gothic metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Moody, doom-paced gothic metal that overall feels fairly clunky and involuntarily disharmonic in its execution.
Stillbirth – Homo Deus
Genre: Brutal death metal/deathcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
World smashing brutal death metal with deathcore breakdowns and melodic content, a little low on energy and ingenuity, but solid and entertaining.
Sunrot – The Unfailing Rope
Genre: Doom/black metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Dissonant doom metal with a sludgy hardcore aggression and a bleak black metal tone. It comes off as rather disturbing.
Tribulation – Hamartia (EP)
Genre: Gothic/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Tribulation appears to be in the very favorable position of being able to effortlessly blend the familiar with the mildly innovative, and it simply comes out as something distinctly them, yet fresh by just the right amount. This one sees them trying out some traditional metal speed and groove, as well as some occult rock flair the likes of which you’d find on Ghost’s early stuff. It doesn’t disappoint.
Highlight: “Hamartia”.
Utilitarian – Gaslights
Genre: Hardcore/death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Angry, to-the-point hardcore loaded with torch-bearer messages and some death metal instrumentality, although not much of the heft.
Valensorow – Shorestank
Genre: Folk/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Some of the weirdest stuff you’ll hear this week, this is a mix of typically jolly folk metal with an oddball rhythm structure, that only just slightly fails to grab a proper hold of you.
Yskelgroth – Bleeding Of The Hideous
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
This feels like a veneer of semi-symphonic black metal draped over a mass of brutal death metal. It has plenty of power, even though the two sides don’t always work that well together.
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 