Caught in a rut? This is a rugged, rowdy week that will shake the dust off and not leave you indifferent.
…And Oceans – The Regeneration Itinerary
Genre: Symphonic/avant-garde black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
At its core, …And Oceans is “simply” a highly competent symphonic black metal band. Where they stand out though, is in the additional layers that are unveiled throughout the listening experience. You take in the first couple of minutes of a song and think you know exactly where this is headed, and then they change it up with a bit of synthwave, or an atmospheric break, only to continue in a new, interesting direction. Or at least that is the case with the strongest tracks on this album. Those looking for the full-on avant-garde experience might find this to be a bit too straightforward. The good news is that, for those just looking for a conceptually elevated, richly melodic, non-cheesy, grand black metal record, this is a stellar example of that exact combination.
Highlights: “Förnyelse i Tre Akter” and “Prophetical Mercury Implement”
Animalize – Verminateur
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
I gotta say, it’s pretty damn refreshing to hear clean-sung metal in a language other than English every now and then. Regardless of this, French band Animalize nail the 80s glam-infused, melodic heavy metal sound, without resorting to tired clichés. It’s mostly a mid-tempo affair, but they shake it up with a few speed metal racers, which is where I find them at their best. They sound confident, and very comfortable with their chosen style, loading on the tropes in a way that keeps all the fun and none of the cringe. The melodies are strong, and most of the tracks build to memorable choruses.
Highlight: “Verminateur”
Balmog – Laio
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
This is stripped back black metal just the way I like it. Not reduced to a “listening to a broken toy speaker” experience by a low-fi production, but simply consisting of the necessary elements to shape their sound, and nothing else. It sounds malign, raw and genuinely like the work of devil worshippers, but with a snap to the rhythms and a hint of groove to the riffs and tremolo melodies. It’s honestly very close to a higher rating, just missing one or two songs that really stand out. Overall, it’s quality, evil black metal all the way, that can be appreciated for its individual style rather than it desperately trying to emulate the Scandinavian origin.
Highlight: “Tongue in pieces”
Chepang – Jhyappa
Genre: Grindcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Nepali(!) grindcore that mixes short-form, groove-laden death metal fury with unhinged dissonance and just enough folk elements to give it a distinct character. The riff tone reminds me a bit of Alien Weaponry, but the muddled production and undeniable ferocity of the thing clearly separates it from anything approaching listener-friendly. It serves up some truly killer, primal riff sections though, not terribly unlike something you’d expect from Soulfly. At 17 min 31 sec, it doesn’t overstay its welcome, and crucially doesn’t sound like the same couple of tracks on repeat.
Highlights: “Gatichad” and “Nirnaya”
Entheomorphosis – Pyhä kuilu
Genre: Ambient/avant-garde doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A four-track, roughly half hour long piece of Finnish avant-garde doom madness. The first three songs feel like a very slow, ambient buildup to the final one, where everything seems to come together as a stretched-out climax, combining noise, black metal, sludge and other elements.
Feversea – Man Under Erasure
Genre: Avant-garde black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
A band standing about waist-deep in the inky mire og hopelessness that is black metal, very much letting it paint the scene of the soundscape, but directly communicating with you from a much more philosophically neutral and genre-unbound place. Clean, semi-melodic female vocals lead the way, occasionally replaced with some harsh wraith-snarling. They’re at their best when restless and really pouring it all into the performances, which is where serious-minded force meets emotion-laden melody.
Hellcrash – Inferno Crematörio
Genre: Black/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
There is never any shred of doubt as to what brand of metal this is, or what purpose it serves. It’s old-school, janky thrash played at speed tempo and given the classic, rough-edged blackened treatment. The production is predictably poor, but there’s no lack of enthusiasm. A few of the tracks get a bit one-dimensional, while others are surprisingly adventurous. It all sounds Venom-level evil, and early Exodus-level impatient and irreverent.
Moonlight Haze – Beyond
Genre: Symphonic/power metal
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
I can forgive a lot when it comes to power metal lyrics, especially when it’s clear that the musicians are in on the joke of just how cheesy they are. This is not the case with this album, where I’m pretty sure some of the lyrics would get laughed out of Eurovision. Add onto that an uneven and limp production and vocals that don’t quite have their note aim in, and… well, you get where this is going. Some of it is pretty catchy though, and the melodies aren’t half bad.
Ossuary – Abhorrent Worship
Genre: Death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
If you’re up to utterly soiling your earholes, then let’s take this plunge into the suffocating deep and face the cruel, ponderous terrors that lurk in the earthy darkness. Ossuary offer up an intentionally painful listening experience, with the highlight being the ghoulish vocals, that manage to convey hate, revulsion, agony and a dark, threatening hunger through only slight variations in the same, gurgling vocal style. There is just enough reverb to create the sense of cavernous terror, and nothing but towering darkness to the tone. You don’t get more than a handful of standout moments, with some sections getting slightly repetitive, but stylistically they hit the target dead center.
Highlight: “The Undrownable Howl of Evil”
Poison The Preacher – Vs The World
Genre: Thrash metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Been a little while since I’ve had some quality crossover thrash on my radar. This stuff is from Colombia, and they do let in just enough local flavor to clearly distinguish it from the typical North American street rascal sound. What they do serve up plenty of is that Power Trip-style, old school death metal-derived raspy brutality, and coupled with the fired-up, no-way-but-forward mentality of eager, short-form thrash, it sets off like a Mad Max-styled monster truck, mowing down everything in its path. There’s plenty of groove, squealy guitar antics and the occasional hardcore stomp section, and it all fits very well together.
Highlights: “Dying Every Day” and “Congelado en el Tiempo”
Thus Spoke Zarathustra – I’m Done With Self Care, It’s Time For Others Harm
Genre: Metalcore/deathcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
This takes me straight back to that early As I Lay Dying-style, “Shadows are Security” era rhythmic riffing, then adding on some heftier double bass drum work, gurglier vocals and a few heavy breakdowns. There’s lots of enjoyment to be had, but they fail to do anything spectacular, or even slightly unexpected with the stylistic setup they’ve got going.
Undecayed – In Death’s Image
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Crunchy, meaty death metal with a sense of urgency. It’s a bit to preoccupied with constantly pumping out riffs and restless rhythms to land anything solid or particularly coherent, but if you just want a dose of grinding goodness, it might be worth a spin.
Unmerciful – Devouring Darkness
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Vibrating with the constant rumbling of bass drums and relentlessly hunting its way with chopping riffs, this is semi-brutal death metal that’s decently dynamic and has more tools in its arsenal than just pulverizing mass with which to annihilate its prey. For me, a lot of the songs are largely too similar, and the vocals a bit tedious with their lack of range, but there is no denying the practiced savagery. And for those ready to embrace the style, the band does change things up in terms of rhythms regularly enough to keep it interesting.
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 