This week sees a mighty clash of death metal and classic doom, each bringing both expected and surprising qualities to bear.
Attacker – The God Particle
Genre: Speed/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Adequately entertaining speed metal with a retro mindset but a full, modern production.
Benighted – Ekbom
Genre: Death metal/grindcore
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Call it brutal, call it tech, call it grind – what it sounds like is precision machinery puppeteering your worst nightmare, on fast forward. To me, it utilizes all the best aspects of the aforementioned extreme metal subgenres, and combines it into something that brings to mind a mechanical horror with the brain of a ravenous, rabid beast. Everything is insanely precise, and at the same time devastatingly savage. And somehow it’s still impressively varied.
Highlights: “Metastasis” and “Scars”.
Castle Rat – Into The Realm
Genre: Doom metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5
Just when you thought that classic doom had gone completely stale, Castle Rat comes charging out from somewhere in the deep woods, swords drawn, with tales of a mysterious realm that only exists beyond the veil of our reality. This is a highly engaging album that steps hard on the retro pedal, but also runs freely in its own direction. While certainly on theme, the vocals and instrumental tone radiate with character, and the balance between atmosphere and attack is just where you want it.
Highlights: “Dagger Dragger” and “Fresh Fur”.
Exist – Hijacking The Zeitgeist
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Progressive extreme metal that sounds like it’s taking more than a few cues from the work of Ihsahn. This is less sharp and cold, more pummeling in the style of death metal, although still highly melodic. It suffers a bit from the ever-restless rhythm problem that is very prevalent within modern prog, but all the different progressions it keeps twisting into are arresting in their own way.
Griefgod – Deterioration
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
A delicious serving of ripping, groove-oriented death metal. It’s nice to get these projects that are neither trying to be old-school, nor overly relying on modern trends. It feels a bit like Blood Red Throne meets Gojira, which I’ll take any day of the week. To some, it might sound a bit “clean” for all-out death metal, but it retains the same relentless energy and aggression all the way through, and doesn’t get comfortable with any repetitive approaches.
Highlight: “Spite Merchant”
Heavy Temple – Garden Of Heathens
Genre: Doom/psychedelic metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
A playful old school doom record that doesn’t mind getting a bit weird. The psychedelic side to the style is pronounced in the way that the band seems uncomfortable staying in any sort of steady groove for too long – always searching for an opportunity to delve into the next trippy solo or alternative rhythm approach. It’s highly creative within the bounds of the subgenre, and has some seriously hard hitting riff sections.
Highlight: “Extreme Indifference to Life”.
Hypersonic – Kaosmogonia
Genre: Symphonic metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
A theatrical symphonic metal album that tries to mix in heavy riffs and a bit of harshness, but lacks the low-end punch to make it land, and the ability to make it flow together organically. Otherwise, it’s fairly playful and fun.
Imminence – The Black
Genre: Metalcore/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Big and dramatic modern metalcore that exudes emotion. Everything feels designed to be massive, with a dark edge. Melodically it works very well, although it may be a bit too smooth for some, with several clean interludes. My main issue is the narrowness of the scope in each song.
Karst – Eclipsed Beneath the Umbral Divide
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A fairly chaotic, dark and highly aggressive death metal offering that leans into the old school Swedish sound, with crunchy riffs and a hint of Scandinavian black metal.
Mòr – Hear The Hour Nearing
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Rapidly advancing black metal with a thundering low end, alternating between massive blast beats and more primitive riff grooves. There’s a good bit of detail lost in the slightly wooly mix, but it makes for a distinct sound.
Mother of All – Global Parasitic Leviathan
Genre: Progressive death/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Fairly down-to-earth progressive metal based around melodic death metal partly utilizing thrash riffs. The band clearly has a message they want deliver, and although the music could hit a lot harder, it’s an attempt at something that’s not instantly label-friendly.
Necrot – Lifeless Birth
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
On this album, Necrot is not content to simply play great-sounding old school death metal. Sure, the tone and feel is very much in line with what you expect, but like a captive beast ripping apart its chains, it is not happy being shackled to conventions. It knows how to go slow and menacing, but also set off into a rampage of badass riffage. To be expected from this band, the album sounds evil through and through, and they’ve managed the feat of balancing dark grandeur with more grounded, naked instrumental work.
Highlights: “Drill the Skull” and “Superior”.
Replicant – Infinite Mortality
Genre: Experimental/technical death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
This is the grimiest technical death metal you’ll have heard in a good while, perhaps ever. The band has fully embraced alarming dissonance and an overwhelming, mechanical rhythm approach, and then allowed a thick coating of raw, bile-spitting aggression and threatening atmosphere to grow all over it, until the result is an utter abomination.
Highlight: “Pain Enduring”
Sarcasm – Morninghoul
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A black/death combo that doesn’t quite work as blackened death, if that makes sense, but sort of alternates between different personalities as it goes. There’s a lot of cool playing on here, it just doesn’t really go anywhere in particular.
Spit On Your Grave – Arkanum
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Modern death metal that’s all rhythm and slightly blackened aggression. The production robs it of some vocal- and riff definition, and it’s not the most organic of experiences, but it has some cool conceptual details throughout.
Tårfödd – Mörker
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
This is bitter black metal based around epic, lamenting melodies, that work so well that they have a near sing-along quality to them. The clean backing vocals don’t always mix perfectly with the tone of the harsher side of the music, but each face of the band’s personality deliver forceful and memorable sections aplenty.
Týr – Battle Ballads
Genre: Folk/power metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
This album feels like a celebration. It’s big, positive, and at its best a lot of fun. The chant-friendly arena-viking-spirit is definitely in place, although some of the band’s usual character seems to be missing on this one.
Unborn Generation – …and All We Forget
Genre: Grindcore/punk
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A mix of grindcore all-out aggression and crust punk rowdiness that makes for a more complete experience than your typical violent outburst. There’s even a bit of melody snuck in here and there,
Veriteras – The Dark Horizon
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Speedy melodeath prioritizing solo-led melodies. It’s got a fairly thin sound, which robs it of some impact, which it partly makes up for with explorative instrumental work.
The Vision Bleak – Weird Tales
Genre: Gothic metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Mildly theatrical gothic metal that tells spooky tales to doom-laden tones and mildly industrial riffs. Every now and then you get a snarl and a black metal-lean-in which is a fitting variation.
Vulture – Sentinels
Genre: Speed/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
When bands are as enthusiastically retro as Vulture, you can mostly expect the output to be equally engaging. This has the 80s plastered all over it, but with the benefits of a modern production. It’s crisp and well defined, prioritizing tasteful reverb and edge over heaviness. The melodies are playfully epic, and usually short-lived, so that we can get on with the next riff section. The dominant sensation you get is that of restlessness, which suits the style perfectly.
Highlights: “Oathbreaker” and “Realm of the Impaler”.
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 