This is a week of both reliability and fringe ideas are able to triumph, even as both the safe and inventive fail in other hands.
Anthrodynia – Unspeakable Horrors Emanating From Within
Genre: Death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
The title doesn’t leave much room to wonder what kind of experience you’re in for on the debut album by these death doomers. It emanates a “we’re all fucked” attitude, and offers not a single hint of positivity. The crunchy riffs, while a bit repetitive, and the earthy vocals complement each other well, and the mood stays consistently ominous and depressing.
Baest – Colossal
Genre: Death/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Not having read anything about this latest release by Danish death metallers Baest before diving in, I was taken aback by the (excuse the pun) colossal change in sound from the 2022 EP “Justitia”, and everything before that, for that matter. Blast beats and boulder-chomping riffs have been replaced with cheeky gallops and licks, cowbell and prog rock-like solos. Well, at least partially. There are still brutal tracks and parts on here, but as a whole it’s definitely a huge branching out, almost all the way to death rock, and brings to mind the likes of Avatar far more than, say, The Haunted or Blood Red Throne. At its best, once you get over the initial shock, the album is actually a lot of fun. The main problem is that it’s pretty uneven, pulling in different directions almost from track to track, wanting to be silly, groovy, angry, solemn and clever all in one package. And it doesn’t quite work. It would help if every track was solid, standing as strong individual statements, but there are almost as many flawed tracks as great ones. Still, the playfulness is endearing, and in these times of old school death metal dominating the extreme sphere, it’s really nice to get a band that dares to be different.
Highlight: “Misfortunate Son”
Fell Omen – Caelid Dog Summer
Genre: Black/heavy metal/punk
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Talk about nailing a style! This stuff sounds like Kvelertak meets old school Darkthrone on speed, and with an even worse production. This is the kind of stuff where it hardly matters whether your speakers cost $10 or $1000 – it’s the spirit of the music that matters. The origin is (naturally) a single individual in a suit of armor, clearly having the time of his life playing cellar-dungeon-darkness-meets-biker-tomfoolery punky, speedy black metal. There’s nothing sinister about this, but the harshness plays a critical part as contrast to the silliness, and allows the gothic atmosphere to function as a theatrically ominous soundscape-shaper, rather than just a tacked-on, pretend-evil vibe. The music sounds like it belongs in some alternate, shadowy realm that only its creator can allow you to visit, and it’s a privilege to have been invited.
Highlights: “The Fire Is Still Warm” and “Poise On Rune”
Fermentor – Agreement
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
An experimental project that only contains two technically oriented instrumental elements, namely guitar and drums. The tone and feel of the thing in somewhere between whimsy and ominous, as the style varies between melodic prog and technical death metal. Because there’s no bass, the music has no good low-end floor or push, and so there’s just this sense of the two instruments dancing frantically while floating in space.
Incite – Savage New Times
Genre: Groove/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Incite are back with their seventh full-length, and a slight shift in style to go with it. It’s still groove metal with strong thrash elements, but they’ve now gone in a harsher, leaner and more hardcore-oriented direction. The rhythms are a bit more start-stop, with some slightly clunky transitions here and there, which isn’t great for the flow, but also veers away from the stereotypical. It has a few highlight tracks where they sound properly pissed off and ready for battle, but also some that either lack punching power or where the instrumental approach gets a bit repetitive. It reminds me of Kataklysm and early Machine Head, and sounds hungry and vital despite the experience behind the levers.
Highlight: “Just a Rat”
Justice For The Damned – Stay Relentless
Genre: Hardcore/deathcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
This is metallic hardcore going to war with a deathcore arsenal. Once you hear the first couple of songs you know pretty much exactly what you’re gonna get for the rest of the 30 minute experience, and that’s okay, cause even though it’s all expected, the delivery is good at worst and exceptional at best. It’s dry, throaty roars on top of jump-around rhythms and grim-toned, crunchy riffs, with plenty of chest-beating energy behind it. It rarely devolves into the generic, and stays loose and relevant throughout, managing an infectious combo of groove and hard-hitting, percussive aggression.
Highlight: “Built To Be Broken”
King Yosef – Spire Of Fear
Genre: Industrial metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
I’m not well versed in the dystopian realms of industrial metal, so King Yosef is complete news to me, but the fact that this project is now six albums deep becomes evident in the craftsmanship. It’s a hostile, beat-heavy experience, but with a great deal of haunting, synthetic, noise-tinged atmosphere to go with it. It’s got the heaviness and ferocious nature of metal, with the rhythm and structure mentality of hardcore and hip-hop. The energy takes a bit of a dip past the halfway point, with tracks starting out doomy and ethereal before getting their bite on far into the song. Apart from this there is much to like, with strong song identities and a consistent mood that has you feeling trapped in an eternal state of smoggy dusk, containing both beauty and horror, threats and opportunities.
Highlight: “Vi Coarctus” and “Lichen”
Unleashed – Fire Upon Your Lands
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
The viking death metal O.G.s are back with their 15th(!) release since getting the raiding party started in 1989. And while they are certainly not the most prominent or influential in this niche part of the subgenre today, “Fire Upon Your Lands” proves that it’s by no means time to put the axe down. Fire up one of their early releases, and I think you’ll find that the same, hungry energy has re-emerged all these years later. It’s not innovative at all, but feels confident in just the right kind of way, like they don’t have to try too hard to show their best side. It’s as if the OSDM revival has shown them that it’s okay to rely on the old ways and embrace the sort of thinking that got them started in the first place. It’s half-groovy, half-melodic, mid-to-high tempo, moderately epic, but mostly malicious-sounding old school death metal that knows what it wants, and how to impress by way of having a good time making aggressive music.
Highlights: “War Comes Again” and “To My Only Son”
Warmen – Band Of Brothers
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
For those not familiar with this band, this is former Children Of Bodom keyboardist Janne Wirman’s baby that he birthed as a side project back in 1999. The band resurfaced in 2023 after a long break, releasing the entertaining “Here For None”, giving that lingering COB itch a good scratch with the combo of virtuoso solo work, sharp riffs and power-esque, synth-driven melodies. In that regard, all is well on “Band of Brothers”, but, long story short, it’s not enough. While there’s plenty of fun to be had, you have to ignore a lot of pretty lazy rhythm work along the way, and melodically you’ve definitely heard it all before. Technically it’s not particularly impressive, but a lot of it is quite tasty. If that sounds like it’s enough, this album will satisfy.
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 