Prepare for some knockout punches this week, both from the ragged vanguard, the well-entrenched core and the devious shadows.
4BanneD – Sanatorium
Genre: Thrash/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Irate and murky death thrash with a straightforward, hardcore-like thematic and rhythm approach.
Alterium – Of War And Flames
Genre: Power/symphonic metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Power metal with an epic thematic scope, although slightly let down by a lack of drama and force in both performances and production.
Apogean – Cyberstrictive
Genre: Technical death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Some beefy-riffed, spacey-toned tech death for you. And while it’s certainly no slouch, it’s not the type that tries to beat instrumental speed records. The rhythms shift tempo and character quite regularly, but are fairly easy to follow. and lets you get into short-lived grooves. Melodically it’s more about creating a mood than actually going somewhere, but the overall sound feels big, like it’s trying to reach up into the atmosphere and beyond.
Arthouse Fatso – Sycophantic Seizures: A Double Feature
Genre: Experimental grindcore/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A bonkers thrash/death-riffed, conceptual grindcore affair that, even with 16 tracks, clocks in at less than 25 minutes. You get the feeling that the band’s messing with you from start to finish. Like, giving a 3-second track a 20+ word title, kind of messing with you.
Cell Press – Cages
Genre: Sludge metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A sludge record that’s shaken all the feelgood out of a smooth stoner metal sensibility, and kept only the shell, infusing it with a chaotic, slightly nihilistic and punk-like approach.
Domain – Life’s Cold Grasp
Genre: Hardcore/groove metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Coarse and forceful metallic hardcore that sets out to shake the earth with its punishing, rhythmic riff-and-drums assault.
Early Moods – A Sinner’s Past
Genre: Doom/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
More slightly pepped-up old-school doom from Early Moods. While not quite reaching the same groove-fueled highs of their self-titled 2022-effort, it offers a slower, more sinister overall mood, and a very convincing nostalgic trip.
Ecclesia – Ecclesia Militans
Genre: Heavy/power/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Time for a monastic, slow-burn party! This is grandiose, medium-to-slow, power-esque heavy metal with some hard-hitting riffs and a doom-like mood. Liberally employing chants and church organs, they fully embrace a holy-order thematic. While a bit heavy-handed, it’s certainly a good time, with some great vocals and lots of catchy grooves.
Exhorder – Defectum Omnium
Genre: Thrash/groove metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
On their latest release, thrash/groove veterans Exhorder feel solidly in sync as a band, mixing speedy thrash with early Pantera-style grooves for a very consistent and confident sound. The production works very well, and both vocals and instrumental output are engaging. Overall there could be more highlights, but there are also very few, if any, weak moments.
Grayscale Season – Feel Something New
Genre: Metalcore/deathcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Slamming with the power of deathcore and balancing it with its softer, melodic side quite proficiently, this album feels sincere and coherent.
Grey Skies Fallen – Molded By Broken Hands
Genre: Heavy/gothic metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Working with an interesting blend of heavy, death, gothic and doom metal, the result is predictably dark and fairly eclectic, feeling coarse and aggressive, yet still fairly light on its feet.
Houwitser – Sentinel Beast
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Speedy death metal with a dampened sound and an emphasis on clever rhythm shenanigans.
Isenordal – Requiem For Eirene
Genre: Doom/folk metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Combining abyssal funeral doom with folk melodies and traditional instruments, this isn’t a thoroughly mire-treading experience, lifting the atmosphere out of the depths.
Judas Priest – Invincible Shield
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5
Be it anthems, groove-fueled chug-alongs, power ballads or cheeky speedsters, it feels downright invigorating to be able to say, hand on heart, that no-one does classic metal quite like Judas Priest. When a band as defining as this can continue to push the envelope 50 years on, it’s a massive, radiant stamp of health for the whole genre. Rob’s voice sounds beyond belief good on here, and the instrumental performances somehow manage to be both tight, playful, stylistically faithful and just the right level of unpredictable, all at once. The production has been tweaked to perfection, and while I personally could have wished for some more high-tempo tracks, not once does this sound complacent.
Highlights: “The Serpent and the King” and “Trial by Fire”.
Kelevra – Onieric
Genre: Groove/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Rage-fueled, slightly odd-rhythmed groove metal. Sometimes the tempo shifts feel a bit stumble-y, but the riffs hit hard.
Kill The Lights – Death Melodies
Genre: Thrash metal/metalcore
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Groove-filled, energetic thrash riffs offset with jarringly unoriginal, soft melodic choruses.
Merrimack – Of Grace And Gravity
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Thoroughly bitter and bitingly cold black metal that alternates between spitting curses at you and sweeping off on doomy atmospheric tangents. The sound is clean and forceful, allowing the musicianship to the fore.
Midnight – Hellish Expectations
Genre: Heavy/black metal/punk
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Expectations are indeed hellishly …low? for Midnight’s latest release, and as for delivering on the promise of a no-nonsense, stylistically rock solid scamper of a blackened heavy metal record, no one should be disappointed. It does feel like you have to wait a bit for the party to get started nice and proper, with the rhythmic approach getting a bit monotonous throughout the first half of the record, but you still can’t help but grin at the glorious abandon of the vocal delivery and naughty, naughty guitar work.
Mutilated by Zombies – Scenes from the Afterlife
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
This is death metal that can’t quite decide if it wants to writhe around in the freshly unearthed grave or design an intricate layout for the entire cemetery. It has some moments, but neither side gets to properly shine.
Myrath – Karma
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Bombastic power metal with a middle eastern flair and some very mild progressive tendencies. They show off some excellent instrumental skills through a great production, but there’s very little originality or joy to be found in the songwriting.
Skeletal Remains – Fragments Of The Ageless
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Don’t take this the wrong way, but a part of me wonders why we even need tech death when “regular” death metal can be as tight, fast and relentless as this. Skeletal Remains are back in excellent form on this one, and, as you might expect, constantly on the attack. The riffs are ripping, the drum work punishing, and the bass like a pulsing tremor below it all. Not much in the way of surprises, but who even cares when it’s this solid.
Highlights: “Void of Despair” and “Cybernetic Harvest”.
Slimelord – Chytridiomycosis Relinquished
Genre: Death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5
I don’t imagine there’s many people out there who won’t find this album sonically repulsive. Not in a straighforward, “this is in bad taste”, disgusting kind of repulsive, but in the way that the cacophony of unpleasant sounds that swirl around your eardrums clearly aren’t meant to be enjoyed, in the strictest sense of the word. And yet, if you’re the right type of listener, you’ll feel the hooks of this beast’s many tendrils finding purchase in recesses of your mind that you hardly knew existed. And suddenly, you just get it. It is thundering, chaotic, multidimensional, and yet there’s a solid core in there, somewhere, for you to grab onto if you just dive deep enough into the madness.
Highlights: “Gut-Brain Axis” and “Tidal Slaughtermarsh”.
Sonata Arctica – Clear Cold Beyond
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Sonata Arctica are back doing what they do best, which is dazzle you with shiny guitar work like a generous sprinkling of crystals borne aloft on winds of mystical and ever so slightly whimsical Finnish-style epic melody.
Speedkiller – Inferno
Genre: Black/speed metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Thoroughly blackened speed metal that nails the tone and tempo you expect from it. Aside from some tasty solos and eventually getting over how impressive that picking speed is, it does get a tad monotonous.
Vicinity – VIII
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A vibrant prog metal album that dazzles with impressive vocal delivery and adventurous guitar work. The rhythm transitions are not perfect, and the melodies, while beautifully harmonious, don’t really travel. But it’s expansive and pleasing to the ears.
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, why not pop a comment down below?
The Metal Dispatch 