A slightly toned-down week that offers a little bit of everything, with an emphasis on aggression in both pent-up and all-out forms.
Above Aurora – Myriad Woes
Genre: Black/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Disconcerting, bleak black metal playing out of a deep, doom-saturated chasm. The purely black metal instrumental part is not particularly innovative, but the long-stretched melodies work very well to instill a feeling of gloom and tragedy.
The Absence – The Absence
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
An album that does its best to transport you back to the early days of Swedish melodic death metal, and the vibe is certainly pretty spot on. While the melodic lead work has its ups and downs, it scores points for trying for a sound of its own. The rhythm work is excellent, with riffs and vocals instantly getting you in the right head space.
Alkhemia – Abraxas
Genre: Melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Semi-melodic black metal with a beautifully full sound, permeated by winding, longing melodies. There is a distinct lack of variation throughout, but the essence of it is very well realized.
Boundaries – Death Is Little More
Genre: Metalcore/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Chug, chug, chug. This is metalcore that goes ultra-heavy and rough for the most part, then typically tones it down for its melodic chorus sections. The technicality is on point, and effort top notch.
Cantique Lépreux – Le bannissement
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Melancholy, yet energetic black metal that’s saturated with a darkly epic atmosphere. You can very clearly picture the vast, mist-shrouded forest from which this feels like it’s emanating.
Carrion Vael – Cannibals Anonymous
Genre: Melodic/technical death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Carrion Veal has a very promising release with their 2022 “Abhorrent Obsessions” and follows it up on good form with this. It’s dark-toned and sinister, with lots of technical melody, although doesn’t quite succeed in leaving a lasting impression.
Child – Shitegeist
Genre: Grindcore/death metal/punk
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
A riot of a punky deathgrind album out of Sweden, that’s more than just heavy, crusty riffs and raspy vocals. There’s room for some actual thought and story, making this collection of short songs far more dynamic and varied than a first glance would suggest.
Coffins – Sinister Oath
Genre: Death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Tomb-born, old-school death metal slowly shaking off the bone dust as it gets moving into crushing, doom-laden grooves. You’re in for a warm and muted, yet still rich and well-defined sound that creates the perfect ambience. The drum work is on the lively side, which prevents the progression from ever feeling overly sluggish. and when the heaviest riffs come charging, it feels like rolling thunder through your body.
Highlight: “Things Infestation”
Coffin Storm – Arcana Rising
Genre: Doom/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
A Norwegian sort-of-supergroup doom/thrash band going all in on the retro factor. Production, instrumental- and vocal approach are all in the style of yesteryear, and are well done in this regard, but might feel a bit theatrical and try-hard for some.
Darkestrah – Nomad
Genre: Black/folk metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Cold, atmospheric black metal with a taste of Eastern folk. They should receive props for not making this tie-in gimmicky, but it could still be more pronounced.
Givre – Le cloître
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
This is atmospheric black metal conceptually centered around historical figures. Each track takes on a life of its own, with varying nuances giving them distinct features. Although they’re all very, very bleak.
Glyph – Honor
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
The purest power metal you’ve heard so far this year. It’s gleefully bombastic and thoroughly invested in its fantasy theme.
Kólga – Black Tides
Genre: Avant-garde black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Have you heard the talk about black metal just being surf rock with distortion? Well, this album sort of both proves and disproves this by combining the two genres. While I can imagine a better realized result than this, it’s still a good bit of fun.
Malphas – Portal
Genre: Symphonic death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A darkly symphonic death metal album that goes big on drama, with a highly dynamic intensity range, and some slightly uneven melodic sections.
Mutilation Barbecue – Amalgamations Of Gore
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
An absolute gore-fest of ping-y drums, squealy guitars and hoarse vocals. Not a whole lot you won’t have heard before, but a couple of right bangers.
Rage – Afterlifelines
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A massive, 21-track double album to mark 40 years of Rage. The first half is fairly aggressive and riff-heavy, the other distinctly more symphonic. Both highly anthemic.
Ren Marabou and The Berserkers – Helgafjell
Genre: Folk metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Very thinly produced Irish folk metal with a hardcore-like approach to their rhythms.
Septage – Septic Worship
Genre: Grindcore/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Gross, depraved deathgrind that delights in sub-guttural snarls and quick-n’-chaotic instrumental work.
Suffer – Grand Canvas Of The Aesthete
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
This is crisp and semi-technical, yet still brutally heavy death metal, that sounds up to date in all the right ways, while still drawing inspiration from the old school. There’s a Carcass-like edge to the sound, which works very well as an offset to the meaty bass-end and busy drums. The flow suffers a bit in the name of innovative rhythm work, but it still makes for a distinct experience which I want to hear further developed.
Verwoed – The Mother
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Unusually warm-toned atmospheric black metal, conjuring a soundscape that feels alive, in both benevolent, uncaring and more sinister ways. Familiar black metal instrumental work is the driving force of the album, but it is suitably toned down in favor of mild-but-somber melodies and a tastefully droning bass end, that gives several sections a doom-like feel. Although there’s a good deal of ambience, it’s not overwhelming, and overall the album feels thoroughly complete.
Highlights: “The Child” and “Death in a Rosary”.
Vorga – Beyond the Palest Star
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Vorga are back with more spacefaring black metal. It’s still technically very tight, and well-produced, with a rich and dynamic output that punches low as well as stabs high. It feels like a slightly more traditional genre album this time, stripping away some of the melody, perhaps intending for it to be more subtle, for a more mature feel. The result is still very compelling, although not quite as hard hitting as before.
Wristmeetrazor – Degeneration
Genre: Metalcore/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Incorporating a few hints to the classic metalcore sound of the early 2000, as well as modern rhythmic technicality and a harsh, impatient hardcore workover, this is a real striker of an album.
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 