Look not to the towering tentpoles this week, but to the sinister creative forces lurking behind the veil of the obvious, clawing their way out with fang and talon.
Apocryphal – Facing The End
Genre: Melodic/stmospheric death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
This temporarily(?) Björn “Speed” Strid fronted self-labeled atmospheric death metal band has been going on and off since the early 90s, but to me does not feel dated or old-school-leaning in any particular ways. It’s mostly fast-paced and a bit irregular in its progression, clearly trying to do their own thing. Parts of it definitely work, but the songwriting is not quite solid enough to deliver a stunner.
Alkymist – UnnDerr
Genre: Doom/industrial metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Now for a slightly different doom experience. Danish band Alkymist seems not to mind being labeled, touting themselves as progressive doomers, but as for embracing the expected formula (as much as you can with a progressive variation of a subgenre), they have, in many significant ways, defied conventions. The tempo is quite high, even by classic, non-funeral doom standards. The traditional fuzz has taken on a much less natural, more synthetic crunch, which, coupled with a massive, foundation-shaking bass and steady, industrial beats, creates the sensation of an approach of something mechanical and unstoppable – a towering, electrically powered construction of dark stained metal, with groaning gears and heavy limbs articulated with hydraulic force. The vocals vary between sludgy rasps and a slightly hushed croaking, which further dehumanizes the expression a measure. The deep, oppressive tone of doom is absolutely still there, but the melodic effect is not that of instilling any sort of melancholy or sullen feeling of helplessness. Quite the opposite, it’s got more than enough groove to get some good headbanging going, and the heavy atmosphere is just the nature of the space you have to enter in order to enjoy it. Dynamically it could probably be quite a bit more daring, but on the other hand it does a great job of keeping the pace up.
Highlight: “Fire In My Eyes”
Empires Of Eden – Guardians Of Time
Genre: Power/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
A guest-heavy power metal project that brings to bear both old and new tricks, both in terms of instrumental approach and production choices. Some of it is dazzlingly virtuosic, while others more straightforward chugging. The vocals aren’t always able to keep up though.
Monolithe – Black Hole District
Genre: Doom/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A long-going doom project that has a thing about sticking to set track lengths, which, without getting too much into it, seems like a fairly forces and inorganic approach to songwriting. It’s powerful, melodically expansive and well produced, but there’s a distinct feeling of it being far longer than necessary, simply in order to serve their compulsive metric goals.
The Mosaic Window – Hemasanctum
Genre: Melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
This is a black metal project that does a (not entirely even) split between standard blast beats and more primitive black ‘n’ roll rhythms, quite lively detours into groove/heavy trotting, and also a few downtempo doom crawls. Does it still sound dark and evil? Yes, but in a way like it’s thrown on the devil’s cowl on top of its denim vest. So the intent is all there, but as its affinity for other styles pull it in slightly different directions, it doesn’t quite land as hard as a more focused effort might. That being said, non-purists like me will almost certainly appreciate the variety on here, and the mosh-inducing, clawed-hand-to-the-sky, aggressive energy radiating from this thing is undeniable.
Highlight: “Turibulum”
Primal Code – Opaque Fixation
Genre: Death/groove metal
Subjective rating: 3,5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Here we have some death metal in that primal, yet very much groove-oriented fashion that you get from bands like Soulfly. This is, however, a more focused beast, going all in on the menace and sacrificing obvious melodic pursuits in favor of raw, bloodthirsty aggression that burns constantly at a threatening, mid-tempo pace. You don’t come out the other end of this feeling like you’ve traveled very far. More fleeing through the same stretch of dark woods with the demonic bear from the cover art hot on your heels.
Spider God – Possess The Devil
Genre: Melodic black metal/metalcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
What the heck is this thing? It’s like a black metal band and metalcore band got into a fight, and when they separated, they somehow didn’t realize that they’d swapped some band members… with the resulting material getting partially processed through the same computer system that cranks out MASTER BOOT RECORD’s music. It’s wild, but it totally works, like some magnetic creative force has brought the best of both worlds together. For those worrying – no, there is no clean singing or sappy melodic sections on this. It’s the kind of high-energy, no-fucks-given mashups that you expect when black metal and thrash join forces. The vocals are all-out raspy, you get a few instances of classic blast beats and tremolo, but mostly groove-loving melodic stuff in the vein of Vltimas, with a heap of hardcore and metalcore riffs and rhythm styles, and just a sprinkling of that aggressive folk-punk you get from bands like Kvelertak. It does not run out of steam at any point, and the more you listen to it, the more you start to get it.
Highlights: “The Wolf” and “Starcrusher”
Starchaser – Into The Great Unknown
Genre: Heavy/power metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
As the name would suggest, this is vibrant, cosmos-heading heavy metal. The tone is classically adventurous, with plenty of playful, melodic guitar work, but the riffs, vocals and rhythms keeps the thing firmly grounded, in a way that seems to defy the thematic purpose.
Thy Catafalque – XII: A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek
Genre: Progressive/avant-garde folk metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Thy Catafalque is nothing if not an ambitious project. This time it’s less about finding a new niche style to integrate and more about just going big. Massive riffs, near-symphonic atmosphere and catchy rhythms have all been brought in to create a handful of real stadium shakers. But that doesn’t mean that it sounds generic. The folk elements are very much still in place, and the middle of the album goes completely non-harsh, with traditional instruments and synthetic melodies dancing in a in highly complimentary and rewarding fashion. There are moments when the band strikes into black metal, industrial, disco and electronica, and it all still very much sounds like the same band. Perhaps a bit unevenly paced and structured, it’s still a chapter of Thy Catafalque that fans of extreme prog and avant-garde metal will not want to miss.
Highlight: “Vasgyár”
Time Lurker – Emprise
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
With an effectively tone-setting, sinister intro track, this solo black metal project pulls you in to its dark domain from the get-go. It’s a place of veiled eyes, mournful whispers and ancient, ethereal forces that work up gales of blind fury. The drum work on this album does a great job of setting the mood along the tremolo-driven melodies, whether it’s a patient shuffle or a thunderous trample. Much of the vocals consist of the kind of high pitched howling that I unfortunately cannot stand, but which adds that extra stab of melancholy to the musical expression.
Toxaemia – Rejected Souls Of Kerberus
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A dark groove-infused, aggressive death metal project that mostly eschews the use of melody, except for some technically-minded guitar solos, but even these mostly work as the sharp, stabby end of this otherwise coarse-edged, blunt force instrument of violence.
Tzimani – I Feel Fine
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A dynamically stunted (partially due to the production) heavy metal album with speedy, cool-as-fuck riffing and solo work, and some spacey atmosphere that hint at the thematic ambitions.
Veilburner – The Duality Of Decapitation And Wisdom
Genre: Progressive death/black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
There is dark, grotesque magic at work here. Inspired by the album art, it’s easy to picture a heretical warlock performing various unspeakable rituals during the course of the album’s runtime, each with its own, unique, but similarly unfortunate outcome. The incantations are spoken as convulsive, throat-rending growls, and the malevolent, primordial energies released take the form of spasming rhythms, dissonant chugs and psychedelic melodies, each morphing dramatically with the erratic mood of the proceedings. Disorder certainly reigns overall, but that doesn’t mean that the prevailing impression you get is that of pure chaos. There’s also orderly, thrash-like, aggressively marching riff sections, serene dips into pure atmosphere, and a stylistic focus that keeps, at least each individual track, fairly coherent. Somehow, I think this band has the capacity to be even more dramatic and intentional with their artistic expression, but this seems a very important step on their journey.
Highlights: “A Shadow of a Shadow” and “Woe Ye Who Build These Crosses are Those Who Would Serve Us Death”
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 