This slightly more relaxed summer-ramp-up-week is dominated by blackened bands, but basically no straight black metal, instead going for the genre-bending approach.
Acherontas – Nekya – The Necromantic Patterns
Genre: Melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Opening the week with some Greek black metal of the familiar, Hellenic variant, meaning it’s melodically expansive and epic, darkly dramatic and also dripping with venom. They tread a very well-trodden path on this album, so it’s no mind-opener, but certainly gets the job done.
Crematory – Destination
Genre: Gothic/industrial metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
I suppose you can call this gothic metal, at least tonally and slightly helped by a Type O Negative cover, but mostly it’s catchy industrial/electronica beats with synth melody and atmosphere, added a slight melodeath touch for heaviness. It’s fairly numbingly unoriginal, with what looks like an AI album cover.
A Flock Named Murder – Incendiary Sanctum
Genre: Progressive black/doom/death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
As suggested by its album art, this is a thing of massive scope, destruction and violent creation all at once. It takes the magnitude of atmospheric death doom and combines it with some of the nihilism of black metal, meaning it’s both sinister and crushingly heavy, but also has sections where the intensity sits back to simply observe the tranquil, gradual proceedings that take place in its absence. There’s melancholy and tragic, natural beauty under the turbulent storm cover that is the rumbling bass, charging drums and headstrong tremolo. It transitions organically into different iterations of itself like the weather on a particularly tempestuous day, and you get the feeling that it’s an elemental force that decides the fates of many. Despite this, it’s level-headed enough never to break out of its stride and shift into unexpected styles, so keeps you securely immersed in the same kind of soundscape throughout.
Highlights: “To Drown in Obsidian Tides” and “The Eulogy Fields”
Hangfire – Burn
Genre: Heavy metal/hard rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A cool, scorched-groove, female-vocal heavy metal band with the catchiness of hard rock. It’s only moderately anthemic and ballad prone, a bit like 80s classic metal, but always returning to the riff, and it’s got a great tone to go with the highly talented vocals.
Hate – Bellum Regiis
Genre: Blackened death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Ready for some gargantuan blackened death metal to shake your walls? Hate delivers that brutal, riff-focused assault that brings to mind early Behemoth crossed with Vader. And as such it is highly satisfying, keeping up the pressure of taut aggression all the way through. It never feels understated, nor is it overdone. It’s not the slightest bit chipper or relaxed, but also not completely glum and stone-faced, delivering some wicked solos and moderately bombastic atmosphere every now and then. To me, the middle of the album feels a little uninspired. Still technically solid, and in no way sloppy or boring, just not really bringing anything new to the table. Overall though, it’s got you by the throat till the last note.
Highlight: “Bellum Regiis”
Herta – Crossing The Illusion
Genre: Progressive/groove metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A Greek, aggressive prog band that mixes harsh groove with a modern, slightly synthetic melodic approach. It’s technically proficient, but doesn’t offer a ton more than odd-timed riffs with a strong Goijra vibe.
Kalaveraztekah – Nikan Axkan
Genre: Progressive/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Whoa, where did this come from? Kalaveraztekah is a Mexican band playing progressive death metal that’s absolutely dripping with Mesoamerican instrumental folk elements, and is deeply steeped in folklore and ancient cosmology. The metal-centric elements are mostly brutal-style, modern-ish melodeath that snakes its way through explosive aggression, melodic triumph, technical showmanship and atmospheric breaks. What mainly separates it from pure excellence is the slightly uneven production that doesn’t allow the full force of the music to come through, and a fairly messy mix that just piles heaps of instrumental elements on top of each other. That being said, it makes for a saturated and highly distinct sound not quite like anything else I’ve ever heard. It hits damn hard, is highly varied, and just oozes potential.
Highlights: “Tonalli Nawalli (La Esencia y el Espíritu)” and “Xolotl Axolotl (La Negación del Sacrificio)”
Khôra – Ananke
Genre: Atmospheric/progressive black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Khôra is an atmospheric black metal band that wants a bit more than just the standard, traditional sound. The song structures go in moderately progressive directions that allow for good variation in rhythms and level of intensity, reminiscent of the work of Ihsahn to a certain degree. There’s also a bit of orchestral grandeur and some death metal heft to go with it, making for a layered experience. The production is full and rich, not low-fi in any way, but also not squeaky clean. It doesn’t have the same level of convincing darkness and misanthropy as some of the best of the genre, and doesn’t defy expectations in the same way as, let’s say Enslaved. But it’s solidly performed and really well thought out, making for a rewarding listening experience.
Highlight: “Wrestling With The Gods”
Labyrinthus Stellarum – Rift In Reality
Genre: Atmospheric/electronic black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Not one for the black metal purists this one, but if you’re a sci-fi geek that still wants your cosmically themed metal to be aggressive and moderately complex, this is absolutely for you. It’s an Ukrainian project that’s loaded with spacey electronica and favoring a modern, technical rhythm approach. At times it goes as far as approaching metalcore accessibility and melody, but it also has a far more aggressive, cold and black metal-faithful dimension to it that shines through at just enough instances to keep it genuine. It’s a flavor out of the ordinary, adventurous, vibrant, not at all pretentious, and not technically overdone.
Highlights: “Cosmic Plague” and “Voyagers”
Leper Colony – Those of the Morbid
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Flesh-tearing old school death metal not too unlike that of Obituary, but with a slightly leaner and crisper sound, a little more set on choppy rhythms, alternating with thunderous double bass onslaughts. The vast majority of it is not all that distinguishable from a lot of other OSDM bands, but it’s satisfyingly riff-focused and style-confident. It’s got a lot of cool moments, and gets the tone and production just right.
Highlight: “Those of The Morbid Inclination”
Master Charger – Posthumous Resurrection
Genre: Stoner/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A mildly psychedelic, super fuzzy stoner project that leans just enough into the occult to fully earn its doom tie-in. The rhythms want to go in a more upbeat, groovy direction, but the tone keeps pulling it down, keeping it in a perpetual state of cruising the twilight, like the goat demon biker on the album cover.
Misfire – Product Of The Environment
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
This Chicago-based band plays in-your-face, mid-tempo, old-school-leaning thrash metal that’s at its best when fully embracing the groove. You get extended, badass riff lines that will keep you headbanging till your brain gets bruised, accompanied by purposeful drum work and perfectly coarse vocals. The tone is definitely up to no good, landing on the outraged, malicious side rather than the mischievous-fun-loving one. There are a few songs that don’t really go anywhere interesting, but also a good handful of bangers.
Highlight: “Living the Dream”
Nightfall – Children Of Eve
Genre: Blackened death/gothic metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Up for a dose of symphonic, blackened, gothic, melodic death metal? Yes, that’s a lot of different styles in one, but I bet that just from reading them you can form a pretty god impression of just what this sounds like. For those who are unfamiliar with the band, Nightfall is a Greek, Hellenic death metal band not too far removed from Septicflesh, and definitely also related to Rotting Christ in style. Those looking for “dangerous”-sounding blackened death metal will not find that here. This is much closer to Dethklok than Behemoth. But think of it as really heavy, symphonic gothic metal, and you can have a lot of fun with it. To my ears the quality tracks are mostly bunched up in the first half of the album, making for a less engaging finish to the experience, but it never really lets you down either.
Highlight: “The Cannibal”
Your Spirit Dies – My Gnawing Pains Will Never Rest
Genre: Metalcore/hardcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
This is apparently what you get when you blend the melodeath-derived melodic metalcore of the early 2000s with modern, dissonant harshness and hardcore directness, and adding on a small dash of death metal brutality. It’s a potent mix for sure, giving you traces of As I Lay Dying and Hatebreed, but eschewing most of the soft, clean parts and the gang vocal-led crowd-chant-lyrics. It’s heavy and highly aggressive, with a ever so slightly blackened edge, but also not letting completely go of melodic tenderness, which ensures a dynamic soundscape. Considering that this is the band’s debut full-length makes it all the more impressive, as they not only manage to showcase quality performances and a hungry energy, but a welcome distinctiveness that avoids most of the big tropes and clichés of the subgenre.
Highlights: “Born Forsaken” and “Unjust God”
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 