Sounds like the metal world has sensed the approach of Christmas season and decided to vomit forth all its remaining blackened, nihilistic stuff as a last stand against the merrymaking.
Abysmal Death – De-liberación
Genre: Technical death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A fast and dark, tech-centric, groove-happy death metal album that’s also not shy to pause for a few brutal slams and a bit of melody. The production’s fairly flat, and there’s some work to be done to cultivate a distinct sound.
Against I – Songs for the Dying
Genre: Black/groove metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2/5
This one’s got a black ‘n’ roll edge, and a whiff of attitude, but it’s not particularly well put together, with few song highlights and a lot of it sounding very similar.
Altar ov Asteria – Éna
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
One of the qualities of black metal is that mystery surrounding the band adds to the intrigue. It’s accepted as an artistic choice that adds a touch of the forbidden and a pinch of exclusivity to the experience, as if the implications of the music’s message are so severe that the band needs to remain anonymous for their own protection. It’s a theatrical ploy, but it works well for the genre. In this case, we are dealing with a duo of masked female musicians that produce an intense, condensed form of atmospheric black metal where the erratically changing rhythms blend into the tower of distortion from the guitars, bass and vocals. Interestingly, it grows and grows throughout the album, culminating the the last track as a grand statement, like the entire experience has been a slow, demonic metamorphosis.
Anarchÿ – Xenötech and the Cosmic Anarchÿ
Genre: Progressive/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
There’s a point where prog goes to far, which will be a subjectively defined line, but for most, this will have traversed that line by miles. Barely coherent, it’s thrash ingredients tossed around in a directionless whirlpool of unhinged rhythms.
Anarchy Zone – Satan’s Island
Genre: Thrash/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Thrashed-up, NWOBHM-styled heavy metal from Denmark. You know in the first minute exactly what the album is going to sound like, and it does not deviate. Good, headbanging fun.
Antidemon – Convergence
Genre: Death/groove metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Straightforward, groove-oriented death metal with limited depth, and what I’m almost sure is inhaled harsh vocals. Nice for a bit of savage riffage, but it kind of drags on.
Aoidos – Oizys
Genre: Progressive/melodic black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Yes, this album is a bit all over the place stylistically. It’s melodic, technical, atmospheric, slow, fast, traditional-leaning yet obviously fresh and modern. An uneven production makes the experience a further notch more tumultuous, but there are plenty of good ideas scattered in here. The parts that are melodic black metal with a prog twist hit in ways that few other bands deliver. One to watch.
Ass to Mouth – Enemy of the Human Race
Genre: Grindcore/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Grindcore-speed death metal that just heaps on crude, mid-levels of brutality without pause for a little under 22 minutes. There’s not much new, but they know how to have fun with it. The kind of heavy shit that will put you in a good mood.
Bedsore – Dreaming the Strife for Love
Genre: Progressive death/black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
There’s going prog, and then there’s absorbing prog. These Italian gentlemen seem to have taken a mental time machine a few decades back, to the golden age of prog rock, with only vague memories remaining of a future where such a thing as extreme metal exists. The cool thing about that is that there’s no pretending. We’re going on a trip, there will be hallucinogen-inspired, animatronic fantasy creatures and epic, matte-painted landscape backgrounds galore, and that’s the end of it. At times it does sound more like a scene-setting soundtrack than a musical centerpiece, at least until the vocals and old-school tech death riffs and rhythms jump in. The album manages the feat of sounding intentional while being highly unpredictable in a non-random way that doesn’t call undue attention to the structure or technicality behind it. Learn to love the synth, don a headband and a pair of tinted sunglasses, and get carried away.
Highlight: “Realm of Eleuterillide”
Bleeders Lament – Populace Artifice
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A one-man old school death metal project out of Australia, that doesn’t shy away from catchiness. The production adds a slightly muted quality that, together with the fairly straightforward rhythms, makes the sound feel almost mellow, but it counters well with a good bass punch. It’s not jaw-dropping, so it might have limited replay value, but all the right ingredients are there for some solid, uncomplicated death metal fun.
Borehead – Vita Est Morte Est Vita
Genre: Doom/stoner metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Instrumental doom metal out of the UK, that feels like a neutral, observational exploration of different, slow-moving natural events on our planet. The riffs have a dark, heavy depth to them, but the overall tone is not overly threatening or abyssal, while certainly not bright or peppy either.
Cryptorium – Descent into Lunacy
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
A newly formed Swedish death metal band that’s uncompromisingly old-school in both performances and production. This stuff sounds like a cave drill that’s started to grind itself apart as much as the rock in front of it. The vocals and drums are utterly savage, clawing and frantically digging their way through your eardrums, showing absolutely no mercy, and the riffs are like rusty sawblades lashing out with predatory viciousness at everything that comes near.
Deinonychus – Fatalist
Genre: Black/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A black metal band that’s been going since the 90s, but has been on hiatus for much of the 2010s. This album is full-on blackened doom, booming unholy outrage through what sounds like huge stone chambers. It tends to get stuck in certain parts and patterns, which halts the progression, but the sheer weight and malevolence behind it keeps the momentum going.
Demon Bitch – Master of the Games
Genre: Heavy/speed metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Impatient, medieval-themed heavy metal with dexterous rhythm work, but also vocals that to me sound like a half-serious parody of Geddy Lee.
Denigrate – To the Goddess Unknown
Genre: Progressive gothic/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Gloomy, semi-polished, markedly gothic doom with a few noticeable Finnish melodeath elements. While more progressive than straightforward, the rhythms, and in particular the melodies, are a bit cumbersome, which gives it a somewhat unrefined feel, like they’ve taken a few creative shortcuts. But most of the riffs and solo sections sound blissfully good.
Detest the Sun – Moonspells and Everlasting Sorrow
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
This is a great example of how black metal can feel stripped-back and focused without having to resort to a low-fi production that makes it sounds like it was recorded through a walkie-talkie on low volume. Flowing on beautifully agony-laden melodies, there’s an immense confidence radiating from this album, in how there’s no apparent exertion required from the performances in order to fill out the soundscape and propel it forward. It’s not exactly relaxed, but its creator clearly trusts in the few, hand-picked elements that are utilized, realizing them with care and measured gravitas. The experience feels short, like it doesn’t cover much ground in its roughly 30 minute runtime, as there’s a significant portion dedicated to melody-driven atmosphere. In one way this makes the album not feel fully realized, but at the same time there’s also no need for it to feel massive. Hopefully it’s a prelude to many things to come.
Highlight: “Silent Suffering”
Dewfall – Landhaskur
Genre: Black/folk metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
An Italian black metal project that dips into the occult and pagan without getting soaked in folk metal tropes. It feels solemn, with chants and melancholic tremolo saturating the sound, but retain a roughness thanks to wild drum flourishes, with tribal-like beats and riff sections in between, a tasteful use of traditional, acoustic instruments and a few playful solos that sound like little critters skittering up the tree trunks of the dark forest we find ourselves in. It’s both primitive and complex, and the longer you listen to it the more it starts to speak to you, like you’re being indoctrinated into its shadowy, old-god-worshipping society.
Highlight: “Fara”
Divine Incision – Cosmic Design
Genre: Brutal death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Massive, slamming death metal with an industrial-like, gargantuan-sounding production. It’s brutal, yes, but also quite orderly, and not particularly varied.
Dying Grotesque – Celestial
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Ultra-crunchy death metal from Ukraine, this one’s all about the pulverizing riffs. It’s quite groove-happy, bounding forward on eager rhythms, chomping down everything in its way with massive chugs. Not all of it truly holds its own, and it’s not unique in any major ways, but if you’re just looking for crushing, headbang-able brutality, look no further.
Feral Forms – Through Demonic Spell
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Dirty, coarse, blackened brutal death metal, complete with ping-y snares. There is very little variation on here at all, save for in the nuances, and a fair bit of that is lost in the “coming from the next room” low-fi production. But the tone is relentlessly hostile and ominous, which is exactly as it should be.
Festergore – Constellation of Endless Blight
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Now for some ferocious New York death metal. Added a pinch of hardcore, it runs at you with boundless energy, and doesn’t mind if the way there gets a bit bumpy.
The Gates of Slumber – The Gates of Slumber
Genre: Doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Resurrected in 2019, this rather well-established outfit is back at spreading mock-evil doomy goodness. There’s layers upon layers of slow groove on this, with deep, full bass and moderately fuzzy riffage setting the (not exactly understated) ominous tone. But the vocals and drums make an effort not to let the thing sink into a ponderous crawl, whipping life into the proceedings at all the right moments.
Highlight: “The Plague”
Gorgon – For Those Who Stay
Genre: Black/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Savage blackened thrash that’s definitely more about the music than the message, which means it’s entertaining. Equally tremolo- and gallop-riff-driven, it leaps and pounces ahead impatiently, but not so quick that the melodies can’t keep up. It comes up a little short on standout tracks, but manages a coherent, non-faltering whole that finishes as strong as it starts.
Grave with a View – Raw Illumination
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
If you like the idea of your black metal screaming furiously directly into your face, this is the kind of stuff you need. What we got here is rage-fueled Finnish misanthropy that sounds like it started off as something grand and possibly quite ponderous, and then the band performed it in a room covered with pictures of people they really don’t like very much. Even being as aggressive as it is, it doesn’t feel like a constant, tiring assault, as it rises and falls in intensity like approaching tidal waves. Interwoven are tastefully restrained, and expertly delivered, menacing melody lines. These never go anywhere even remotely nice, but add a depth that you might not have expected, and which makes it that much more memorable.
Highlight: “Wrest”
Inverted Cross – Eternal Flames of Hell
Genre: Black/speed metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Stylistically on-point blackened speed metal from Spain with snarl-barky vocals and endlessly galloping riffs. There’s also, as you’d expect, plenty of clever guitar solos and a tongue-in-cheek thematic that involves fire, goats and black leather.
Konkhra – Sad Plight of Lucifer
Genre: Death/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Groove-rich, thrash riffed death metal that unfortunately flows rather poorly thanks to a clumsy structure, poor rhythm transitions and a production that lacks depth.
No Kings Allowed – A New Era
Genre: Symphonic metalcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Dutch/Belgian modern metalcore that’s been given the symphonic treatment, which means big riffs inflating soaring melodies. There’s more aggression than you might expect, and they include aspects of deathcore, groove metal and even a bit of brutal death metal, but these are mostly fleeting, gimmicky elements.
Peace After Pain – The Deadly Rave
Genre: Thrash metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Misbehaving thrash metal from Spain flush with hardcore-style gang vocals and a confrontational feel to pretty much every part of the performances. You’ll feel like you’ve heard a good deal of it before, but when they get the thrash grooves right, you’re rewarded for sticking with it.
Pestilent Hex – Sorceries of Sanguine & Shadow
Genre: Symphonic black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Finnish black metal band Pestilent Hex build on their well-received sound established on 2022’s “The Ashen Abhorrence”, which I liked a great deal. This time, the music is more layered, meaning you’ll have to pay more attention in order to penetrate the outer shell and sail along with the core flow. Some of the simplicity that made the riff- and tremolo-driven melody stand out on the previous album is a bit too deeply buried on this one, and you’ll have to get through chunks of fairly standard, aggressive black metal parts in order to get to it. It’s still symphonic in a doom-like, severe kind of fashion, rather than epic theatre, and sounds more mature, just not quite as engaging as on the debut.
Plaguefever – Flail of Pestilence
Genre: Black/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Properly scorched blackened thrash metal that sounds like it’s performed by a gang of leather-clad liches. This stuff is bad to the bone, firing off sinister riffs barbed with peak-evil raspy vocals like they’ve got an endless supply. It advances on you on marching, steady rhythms that aren’t afraid to sidestep into mid-tempo black ‘n’ roll when the moment calls for some groove. It’s much more an in-your-face, hold-nothing-back experience than one that tries to build to a peak, stage by stage, but they still manage to crown most of the tracks with some memorable highlights, usually by slowing down into crushing breakdowns. While they probably could have benefitted from going a bit more wild at times, in order to further spice things up, the riff-hungry listener will be able to come out the other end absolutely stuffed.
Highlight: “340 Skulls”
Ritual Fog – But Merely Flesh
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Let’s take a slow danse macabre around the graveyard as moldy bodies claw their way out of the diseased earth all around. On their debut full-length, Ritual Fog serve up a sub-30min slab of unhurried, sinister old school death metal, which, I guess to their credit, sounds markedly longer. If you play quickly through the tracks, you’re gonna find a lot of rhythmic and tonal similarities, so it’s an album you need to let sink in a bit to be able to fully appreciate, and there’s plenty to like on here. Both when they let loose with charging drums and chopping riffs, and when they bow down into the murky depths of classic doom. I found my favorite tracks mostly on the back half, where it sounds like both the thunderous riff sections and ominous atmosphere are more distinct and get a bit more dedicated playtime. For a debut, it’s really solid, as the band seems to have hit their stride from the get-go, sounding fairly mature and confident in their style. That being said, it doesn’t stand significantly apart in the tidal wave of “new” osdm that we’re currently experiencing, but it’s a great starting point.
Highlight: “Demented Procession”
Scythrow – Blameless Severed Extremities
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
These Finnish dudes know how to please a fan of old school Scandinavian death metal. Tonally, they’re totally on point, and there’s plenty of tasty, savage riffs to devour. They also manage to sneak in a bit of dark, folk-derived melody, but only very sparingly. As a collection of bad-ass elements, it’s awesome, although there’s a bit to go to achieve solidly coherent songwriting.
Steel Inferno – Rush of Power
Genre: Speed metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Ratty, gallop-happy speed metal from Denmark. This stuff is very far from polished, but that’s not what you want from this subgenre anyway. At its best, it’s adventurous like an epic heavy metal project should be, and at it’s worst, it’s a bit clunky. If you fall in love with their sound, you will easily forgive them these creaky joints though.
Terminal Violence – Moshocalypse
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Now for some speed-loving Spanish thrash. With high-pitched vocals and a stripped-back, guitar-centric sound that’s nearly tripping over itself trying to get to the next, galloping charge, this one aims to please, and it’s not hard to know what to expect. There aren’t a ton of highlights, but there’s also very little bad.
Tierra Santa – Un viaje épico
Genre: Heavy/power metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
If you’ve never heard happy-go-lucky, epic heavy metal performed in Spanish before, I can tell you it’s incredibly refreshing. I wanted to fall in love with this album a minute into the opening track, and it was fine for a while, with plenty of retro melodies, cool riffs and engaging solos to enjoy, with lovely vocals singing about ancient legends on top. But it doesn’t take long before the magic fizzes out a bit, and it starts to feel too laid back and indistinct. Still, there are fun moments throughout if you stick with it.
Ungfell – De Ghörnt
Genre: Black/folk metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
From this delightfully eccentric Swiss “alpine” blackened folk metal outfit comes a statement of an album that makes its intentions clear from the first few seconds. No intro track, no interludes, no bullshit. Every song struts with creative prowess, as if attempting to outdo the previous one in level of either pure aggression, rhythmic versatility, or melodic heft. No, as far as its theme and façade goes, you’re not really supposed to take it super seriously, but allowing you to understand this up front is incredibly freeing, as you’re then set to appreciate its quirks and antics as strengths. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not silly (not even Finntroll-level silly, really), just very keen on shaking up and embellishing the formula. The great thing is that it’s done with peak taste and skill. The band takes you through roaring storms, wild midnight rituals, rowdy log cabin rock-outs, to triumphant peaks of magnificent scope.
Highlights: “Im Ruusch” and “Sturmglockä”
Vidres a la Sang – Virtut del desencís
Genre: Progressive death/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
This sounds like a band that’s on the cusp of greatness. The way they harness melancholy melody, effortless rhythmic flourishes and gradual, dramatic build-ups, speak highly of their technical and artistic capabilities alike. What holds them back at this point is first and foremost a very limiting production/mix that puts a lid on both the finer details and the potential force of the peaks of intensity. But they do also tend to work themselves out on the fringes, dwelling on still-standing atmosphere, which can be a bit agonizing when you know what they can do once the gloves come off.
Völva – Desires Profane
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
I have a weak spot for when bands are able to truly saturate their music with anger. It speaks of passion and conviction, but also simply radiates protest and outrage, refusing to ignore or stay quiet about the fucked-up, unfair, horrendous shit that goes on every day courtesy of mankind. And this satanic-feminist group from Sweden have managed exactly this. Every song feels like an exorcism of bottomless spite, expelling rasp-hissing vocal bile, crust-infused rhythms and ripping riffs with a gut-punch bass rumble pushing it all forwards like shockwaves. It’s got a bit of thrash shredding, death metal savagery, punk abandon and gothic drama, which all makes welcome contrasts to the sometimes fairly predictable black metal tone and blast beats. A holy-water-and-piss molotov cocktail of a debut.
Highlight: “Asmodeus”
Warpstormer – Warpstormer
Genre: Doom/sludge metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Lead-heavy doom sludge from the UK. It’s at its best when going all-out shouty or leaning into cool stoner groove and wicked solos, as its mid-tempo and slow parts can get a little indistinct.
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 