This week goes light and dark, fast and slow, aggressive and light-hearted, and offers a good deal of surprises.
Angerot – Seofon
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Angerot are back with their fourth full-length of crunchy, modestly blackened death metal. It sounds tough and sinewy, which works well as a stylistic feature, but it also manifests as a lack of dynamism in the performances, vocal and instrumental alike, which isn’t great for the flow. That aside, it’s more than punishing enough, with some real beastly energy and sections of bloodthirsty groove. The tone is sinister and ever so slightly morose, and I get the mental image of this being performed in a dilapidated, filthy and very dimly lit room, with upside-down crosses and blasphemous passages carved into the walls. The production is good though, with plenty of force and a good, sharp edge to the lead guitar.
Highlight: “Her Song Ov Feathers & Ivory”
Born Of Osiris – Through Shadows
Genre: Progressive/electronic deathcore/metalcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
I haven’t really followed the progress of this band since I discovered them on 2019’s “Simulation”, but this latest album is definitely lacking a good deal of the elements that sold me on their sound back then. It’s still technical, playfully progressive and melodic, but “suffers” from several of the typical symptoms of becoming big and popular. Chant-able choruses, bright, poppy synth elements and at times fairly rhythmically rigid, breakdown-prone riffing as a default for heaviness. Still, the production is great, and most of the songs flow really well. It’s not an album that should leave you bored.
Celestial Wizard – Regenesis
Genre: Power/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
This is for all of us that want fun and aggression to coexist when visiting the less serious corners of the metal spectrum. It’s got all of the fierceness and melodic verve of a Finnish melodeath project, but slightly simplified and leaning way into classic power metal. They haven’t achieved the best songwriting on this one, but it’s got a handful of highlights and is properly entertaining.
Cronos Compulsion – Lawgiver
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
The debut album from a young gang of US death metallers, and it’s not messing about. It feels towering, swathed in darkness, and dangerous in a slightly unpredictable way. There’s a touch of dissonance and a few progressive-minded rhythm switches, some of which are a bit iffy, but it doesn’t feel experimental in any significant way.
Disembodiment – Spiral Crypts
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Festering, murky death metal that comes rumbling out from below a layer of maggoty intestines. The bass does a tremendous job to maintain the gore-horror mood, without it tipping over into flippant- or meta-territory, although it does include some well-fitting sound clips and atmosphere alluding to 80s horror movies. The band knows exactly what kind of sound they’re going for, and they’ve nailed it. I wouldn’t have complained over a little more crispness for that scratching-in-your-ears feel, but it’s also not severely muffled. The tempo varies, and the drum work is exactly as precise and pummeling as it needs to be, with ravenous guitars and raw-throated vocals making up the meat of the beast.
Highlight: “Infected to Rot”
Front Row Warriors – Running Out Of Time
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Classic feel-good, wind-in-your-hair heavy metal with female lead vocals. It’s not advanced in any way, but the lyrics and melodies will have you singing along, and the tone is on a favorable tipping point between comfortable and cool.
Hell – Submersus
Genre: Blackened doom metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
When I choose to describe this album as “cinematic”, know that it has to do with the immersive, enveloping quality of the music. I see myself in a massive, dark auditorium, barely lit by a red glow, like that album cover, and the screen/stage opens up like a great maw to swallow you into a world of eternal damnation. It’s a sinister, ground-trembling sound, but it doesn’t feel hostile in a way like it’s about to attack you. You’re being subjected to the machinations of the underworld, and they barely take note of your presence. It’s a smooth, uncomplicated listening experience, and everything feels very deliberate, but it’s not too slow, not too uneventful, just pouring on sulfurous atmosphere and mountainous bass and riffs. It’s not overly oppressive or disturbing, just naturally evil.
Highlights: “Hevy” and “Bog”
Imperial Crystalline Entombment – Abominable Astral Summoning
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Like a melding of Immortal and Satyricon, this is severely chilled black metal played from deep within an ice cave. It’s got a sharp aggression to it, and uses it to spearhead an assault of marching riffs and charging drums. While it’s got melody in it, it’s not exactly melodic, more majestically atmospheric, but with the instrumental performances front and center. A more punchy production might have allowed it to hit harder, and even bigger contrasts between attack and pause would probably allow individual passages to stand out more clearly. But if you’re into atmosphere-loaded, aggressive, classic black metal, then you can’t go wrong with this.
Highlight: “Esoteric Offerings” and “Insufferable Shivers”
Impureza – Alcázares
Genre: Folk/death metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Hearing the description “flamenco-infused death metal”, my expectations immediately pulled from Fleshgod Apocalypse. But, while they’re not worlds apart, this is definitely not quite the same. While the flamenco certainly adds a sense of occasion, the overall feel is not distinctly theatrical. The folk elements mostly function separate from the death metal, which by themselves sound like non-Scandinavian classic melodeath, leaning ever so slightly into modern tech death. The most important part is that this isn’t overproduced. It’s fierce and powerful, but it’s not an apocalyptic cacophony. The guitar attack is direct and purposeful, and the rhythms deftly skip between playful, folk-inspired passages and visceral assaults. The transitions between castanets and acoustic guitar and murderous chugs with predatorial vocals include both complete shifts and stylistic blends, and somehow work incredibly well regardless. A thing I didn’t realize how much I needed in my life.
Highlights: “Bajo Las Tizonas De Toledo” and “Reconquistar Al-Ándalus”
In The Company Of Serpents – A Crack In Everything
Genre: Sludge/doom/stoner metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
This feels first and foremost like sludge that every now and then chills out with a desert rock vibe, and that in itself is a very cool pairing, mixing coal-powered, lurching heaviness with acoustic-melodic playfulness. But it’s also got a doomy heaviness and pace, and a stoner-like, groovy approach to the riffs. Add the final touch of a tastefully low-fi production, and you’ve got an expression that is both distinct and still fairly familiar. It’s dark and a bit cynical, but dares to dream, and takes you on a journey through dry landscapes of sun-burned paleness and black, impenetrable shadows. It sounds a little understated at first, but once you get attuned, you’re hooked.
Highlights: “A Patchwork Art” and “Cinders”
Philosophobia – The Constant Void
Genre: Progressive/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Classic progressive metal with moments leaning into softer prog rock, and some straight, melodic heavy metal passages when a bit of epic is called for. It’s got a few transitional hiccups and slightly uneven vocal work, but thanks to a flair for storytelling, it’s surprisingly immersive.
Sheev – Ate’s Alchemist
Genre: Progressive stoner metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Parts of this sound like the more dreamy side of Mastodon, while the rest is distinctly more groovy than sludgy, and progressive in a rhythm-minded rather than style-bending sort of fashion. They tend to get lost in repetitive patterns a bit too often, but the prog-stoner combination (unless you’re already familiar) will grow on you.
Viogression – Thaumaturgic Veil
Genre: Progressive death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
This is one of those albums where every other song is an interlude, which doesn’t quite work for me unless they’re super short (which they’re not) and they do push the runtime beyond what is strictly necessary. Beyond this, what you’ve got in store is mildly chaotic, moderately blackened, progressive death metal. It’s too uneven to be able to fully recommend, but it’s got spirit and demonstrates good variation.
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 