It’s a week of numerous contenders, where only the very few are able to hold a candle to the massive, sun-blotting release that’s headlining it.
10,000 Years – All Quiet On The Final Frontier
Genre: Stoner metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
In the mood for some fuzz-heavy stoner with a cosmos-curious, mildly psychedelic atmosphere? “All Quiet On The Final Frontier” is not your standard groove-fest, and not a completely spaced-out cerebral thing either, but exists in a thematically conscious border world in between the two. Both the vocals and instruments have a confidently rough, garage rock-like edge to them that prevents the sound from getting too smooth or mellow, although a richer production would probably have dispelled the slight air of amateurism that they’re left with as a biproduct. For a modestly exploratory stoner record it’s refreshingly frisky, managing to balance retro-spacey ambience with ragged, honest, riffage working on top of fluid, purposeful rhythms.
Highlight: “High Noon In Sword City”
Aeon Gods – King Of Gods
Genre: Symphonic/power metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Super dorky symphonic power metal that goes classic with its solo- and riff-happy guitar work, and slightly strained vocal style. While the production does a fairly good job, it doesn’t reach the towering peaks you really want this to boom from, and overall it moves fairly clumsily and predictably.
Ante-inferno – Death’s Soliloquy
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Tragic, murky black metal that’s writhing in a filthy web of misery, getting nowhere but clearly displaying its wounded state of mind. A casual listen will find this a bit one-dimensional, and there are no noteworthy strides taken in terms of melody or outright variation, but as an expression of pain and outrage, it’s on-point and consistent.
Body Count – Merciless
Genre: Rap/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Violent, attitude-heavy, thrash-riffed rap metal, anyone? Yes, the base formula has not been fuddled with, and I absolutely think that Body Count are at their best when they crank up the aggression and think more powerviolence than angry hip-hop, but it’s also cool to see them branch out a little. You get a bit of groove, some odd prog, and a sprinkling of flavors courtesy of the guest vocalists that’ve been brought in, like Corpsegrinder, Max Cavalera and Howard Jones. Since they’re already not prioritizing stylistic consitency, I would have liked to see them move even further out on the fringes and embrace the extremes, but in the end that might distract from the politically charged lyrical messages, which are still a central part of their output.
Highlight: “Psychopath”
Conjonctive – Misère de Poussière
Genre: Blackened deathcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
This band exists in a darkened space where the demonic evil of black metal has been allowed to corrupt an otherwise technically oriented death metal/deathcore inclination. It’s definitely more about style than message, but doesn’t feel tacky. It’s hostile and brutal in a slightly dissonant, non-flippant way.
Defeated Sanity – Chronicles Of Lunacy
Genre: Technical/brutal death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 4/5
This thing sounds like a year’s worth of ideas and notes compressed into roughly half an hour of runtime. It’s a condensed experience that’s certainly not straightforward in its ultra-tight drum-led rhythmic progression, but also not overly convoluted or at all directionless. It’s a city-leveling, gigantic bulldozer with a computer brain that manages the destruction down to micro-movements in order to maximize the eradication.
Highlight: “Heredity Violated”
Distant – Tsukuyomi: The Origin
Genre: Deathcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Are you ready to be enveloped by a fire tornado that’s passed through a razorblade factory and a crocodile zoo? Production-wise, it hardly gets more massive than this, and for people that actually like to make out the individual instruments, this will present as an impenetrable wall of processed sound. It’s brilliantly technical, and the monstrous fury it radiates is well controlled and perfectly measured out in ultra-precise bursts.
Goats of Doom – INRI
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Finnish black metal with a semi-melodic, semi-black ‘n’ roll approach, that’s suitably rough and muddled, but structure- and melody wise it doesn’t fit all that well together, which isn’t helped by a sub-par production.
Gutless – High Impact Violence
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Primitive, gore-loving death metal, not too far removed from the style of 200 Stab Wounds. There’s a suitable amount of groove, barky vocals and highly active drums that really keeps the thing moving. Dynamically, it’s a bit one-dimensional.
Hjemsøkt – Om vinteren, på en sort trone
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Ultra-traditional Norwegian black metal that sounds straight out of the early 90s. If you can’t get enough of the frozen Scandinavian forest vibes, this is exactly the tone and theme you’re looking for, but I find absolutely no fresh ideas on here.
Immortal Force – Mystic Seance Unrealities
Genre: Death/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A blend of the two roughest corners of death and thrash, making for a ragged, rotten dive into aggressive unease. They play it a bit too fast and loose to get down something solidly coherent, but if you’re into the low-fi, cellar mosh party vibe, this is the kind of stuff that feels just as dangerous and forbidden as is suitable.
Iniquitous Savagery – Edifice Of Vicissitudes
Genre: Brutal death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A wall of bass-heavy chugs, mechanical, murderous beats and gurgling vocals assault you from start to finish on this one. This is heavy, heavy, heavy shit, with no real respite, just trying to shake your brain out through your ear holes.
Kingcrown – Nova Atlantis
Genre: Heavy/power metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Scene veterans in new getups are behind this power-pumped, NWOBHM-style old school heavy metal project. It’s pleasingly energetic, and strikes a great line between the bright and colorful and the epic-ballad-prone, riff-happy style of the likes of Saxon. The melodies and choruses are not bad, but also not terribly distinct.
Maat – From Origin to Decay
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A German blackened death metal band that brings to life a lot of that infernal grandeur that Behemoth left behind as they got more conceptual. This is pummeling, technical stuff that, also not unlike early Behemoth, leans into oriental tone and melody. It falls a little flat on some of the rhythmic transitions throughout, and the vocal range comes up a little short, but overall delivers some engaging stuff.
Múr – Múr
Genre: Progressive/atmospheric doom/black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
This is a project that’s a bit tough to nail down and label in any concise way, but you, the listener, should not let this concern you. If you like atmospheric doom, you’ll love this. If progressive black metal is more your thing, this is also very much for you. Avant-garde folk metal, not totally unlike Thy Catafalque? Yes, you will find that in here also, and in no way do these different stylistic directions clash. It’s beautiful and deep when it goes slow, delightfully weird and mind-tickling when it goes for some mid-tempo rhythm acrobatics, and spine-tingling when it decides to ball its fists and roar up at the night sky. It’s a fairly long album at nearly 55 minutes, but time fades into irrelevance as your awareness sinks below the moonlit surface of “Múr”‘s black waters. I think they can comfortably push the extreme ends of their style further for an even more dramatic result, but this is a stellar debut. These young Icelanders have a bright future ahead of them, that’s for sure.
Highlights: “Frelsari” and “Holskefla”
Ocean Grove – Oddworld
Genre: Nu metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
These Australian nu metallers summon the very spirit of the subgenre on this one, bringing in elements of early Linkin Park, Korn, and several other late 90s greats. It’s a fantastic nostalgia trip if you’re of the right age, and if not, it’s a great introduction in the form of a modern hybrid that brings in modern stylistic sensibilities. Unfortunately, they waver a bit in their dedication throughout, and a few of the choruses go a bit limp. But it’s still a vital, well-produced and rather fun effort.
Opeth – The Last Will & Testament
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5
Being someone who never followed Opeth closely, it’s still easy to point out the qualities that has made them an outstandingly influential force, not only within prog metal but for the genre as a whole. And now that the death growl is back (I’ll pretend you didn’t know already), it allows the band to return to a place of optimal balance, where this abrasively expressed element of emotion counters the more measured and delicate characteristics of Åkerfeldt’s clean vocals, and an instrumental approach that never really ventures anywhere near the realms of raw brutality. You think you hear the roaring blaze of melodeath as the, low raspy snarls build on top of the more dramatic tops of the distorted riffs, but no, this is an illusion, as the band deftly skirts along the borders of extreme prog, never crossing, and for the most part staying well clear. Gloomy, gothic drama coats the proceedings in a layer of suitably theatrical dust and smoke that keeps your mind grounded in the beautifully restrained transitions between high-energy bursts of forceful riffs, complex drum patterns and triumphant guitar solos. If you are hyper-aware of prog tropes, then you might find a few too many for your ideal liking on here, but for the most part this is a masterfully composed, thematically consistent piece of dramatic, candle-lit storytelling.
Highlights: “§5” and “§1”
Rvkkvs – Antithesis Of Prosperity
Genre: Grindcore/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A slightly reigned-in grindcore project that brings in elements of old school melodeath and a bit of straightforward, heavy groove metal. It’s not always in-your-face intense, but takes turns delivering face-melting ragers and more mid-tempo, riff-centered bangers. It’s rough, and with a slightly muted production, so could definitely hit a good deal harder, but it’s refreshing to hear this kind of measured branching out in such a relentlessly extreme subgenre. At just over 17 minutes, it certainly left me wanting more, and not at all like I’d been served the same basic approach on repeat.
Highlight: “Kleptomaniac”
Starwraith – Distant Shores
Genre: Symphonic death/folk metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2/5
An epically minded and on-the-cusp-of rousing melodic/symphonic death/folk album that’s, unfortunately, haltingly performed and rather shoddily produced.
Thunraz – Incineration Day
Genre: Experimental death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Pushed into some subterranean space by a severely muffling production, this is harsh, dissonant stuff that gets more dynamically limited the harsher it goes, and more interesting when it delves into cerebral atmosphere.
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 