Reviews of metal albums released October 04 – October 10
A week of strong mood swings – from doomy seductiveness to riotous outrage to homicidal frenzy – it’s all worth paying attention to.
All Hell – Sunsetter
Genre: Black/thrash metal/black ‘n’ roll
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: A no-nonsense, riff-driven black metal project with elements of thrash, hardcore and rock ‘n’ roll. As “unholy” metal goes, this is mostly preoccupied with creating engaging music. You get blast beats and dry snarls, but the crisp drum work and agile energy are all about getting your head moving. Falling somewhere in between the reckless abandon of thrash and the simplicity of punk, it’s entertaining and to-the point, without turning too many heads.
Blindfolded And Led To The Woods – The Hardest Thing About Being God Is That No One Believes Me
Genre: Technical/experimental death metal/deathcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: As has come to be expected from Blindfolded and Led to the Woods, this is a release with a lot to take in. Around random corners lurk shock-and-awe assaults of frantic, technical death metal, and moments of respite are filled with chant-y, staccato hardcore vocals, dissonant melodies and unpredictable rhythm approaches. The heavy parts take the form of barbarous death metal, chugging deathcore and abrasive metalcore, and they function as individual faces on a multi-headed beast, each one with a (at least partially) mind of its own, giving no warning of when it suddenly decides to cut in. It’s not as random an experience as I probably make it out to be – there is a method to the madness – but it’s not a style that lets you lean into one particular direction for very long. There’s awesome technical control, a good deal of groove, and it both rises into symphonic heights as well as dissolves into atmospheric mist. Above all, it’s punishingly heavy, and impressively dynamic.
Highlights: “Cafuné” and “The Hardest Thing About Being God Is That No One Believes Me”
Boltcutter – Still Broke
Genre: Slam/brutal death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Loaded beyond the brim with soundbites and ping-snares, this is slamming death metal that understands the assignment, though doesn’t much bother to shake up the formula. It’s tight, with a fittingly lean production, making for a direct, un-fluffed impact with plenty of playful attitude.
Dead Heat – Process Of Elimination
Genre: Thrash metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: This thing screams Power Trip, but not in a derivative way. What I mean is that it takes some of the best aspects of that band as examples for its own way of performing, which comes through in the unfiltered attitude and raw energy that very clearly fuels it. This is a thrash-forward variant of southern Californian crossover, carrying elements of Slayer and Anthrax, among others. It delivers mid-and high tempo serrated-edge riffing with deadly accuracy, and to equally murderous levels of effect, which is a feat in itself. It doesn’t get repetitive or unimaginative, always pushing forward and, aside from a mid-experience interlude, never running out of steam. A pure banger with a killer instinct.
Highlight: “Hidebound” and ” By My Will”
Extortionist – Stare Into The Seething Wounds
Genre: Deathcore/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Extortionist make deathcore with a mind for other things than just breakdowns. The foremost of the split personalities are stompy hardcore and gritty grunge, but there are also fragments of Deftones-esque alternative, and a bit of Slipknot-y nu metal. In that regard their sound reminds me of a (much) less experimental version of Tallah. It’s got much of the same raw-throat, beat-heavy aggression, and alternates it with reluctant-melodic, grungy semi-clean parts that bring to mind the calmer side of Machine Head. Lots of stylistic elements to speak of, but it results in a very cohesive sound.
Highlight: “Cycle Of Sin”
Frayle – Heretics & Lullabies
Genre: Atmospheric doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: Frayle have really mastered their brand of stylized doom metal with this one. Saturated with abyssal synth, bulked up with crashing riffs and led by silky-smooth dark elven vocals, it feels (and looks) like toned down and doom-ed version of In This Moment – it just doesn’t quite sound like it. The album exists in a shadow-realm of insidious, ponderous melodies, luring you in with cushy pleasantness, only to trap you in its world of half-materialized horrors. It’s tonally exquisite and extremely well produced, although a bit stuck in the same exact mood throughout.
Highlights: “Boo” and “Souvenirs Of Your Betrayal”
Heartlay – The Alteration
Genre: Industrial/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: Like a reserved, industrial-gothic and (per today) heavier version of Lord of the Lost, this is black-clad, slightly sad, metalcore-catchy alternative metal that feels well-rounded and able to avoid the biggest clichés.
Katakomba – The Second Death
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Imposing Swedish death metal that comes roaring out of the gutter-drains, hungry for living flesh. It’s an old-school-leaning thing, but doesn’t get lost in style-adulation, bringing a dark edge, with traces of hardcore, lots of grim energy and plenty of-low-end firepower. It feels ferocious, with a hunting predator’s demeanor, always advancing, be it prowling or bounding along. There’s plenty of raw groove, and some really strong choruses, with a more than decent level of variation in rhythm, tempo and playfulness between songs.
Highlight: “Atropos”
Morke – To Carry On
Genre: Avant-garde/melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Medieval-themed, and with a very specific, reverb-heavy and dreamy style, Morke stands on its own in the world of underground, atmospheric-melodic black metal. The un-harmonious-yet-serene, distracted-sounding melodies will not be for everyone (I simply can’t vibe with it), but it’s very likely not quite like anything you’ve ever heard before, and somehow matches very well with the bitter harshness that comes sweeping in every now and then.
Sanguisugabogg – Hideous Aftermath
Genre: Death/extreme metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: The Bogg is back, still downtuned, still brutally heavy and still outrageously grisly. But this is a step away from the style-faithful, grimy-brutal death metal that we got on 2023’s “Homicidal Ecstasy”. The ping-snare is there, but not quite as prominent. The chug-breakdowns are there, but not feeling quite as routine. It’s crisper, starker, more openly and sincerely hostile. It’s loaded with guest performances, and while they’re noticeable, it seems their contributions are very much in line with the vision for the album, because if you didn’t know about them, I doubt you’d be able to point it out on a blind listen. I’m gonna say it: It feels mature, if such a thing is possible with track titles like “Erotic Beheading”. There’s an industrial edge to a lot of it, even technical, giving a much more a feeling of considered songwriting rather than impulsive, live-oriented chug-piling. It’s a bit of a surprise, and still very much the kind of abomination I think the fans will go nuts over.
Highlights: “Felony Abuse Of A Corpse” and “Abhorrent Contraception”
Terjiz de Horde – Our Breath Is Not Ours Alone
Genre: Black metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Harsh, strung-out, Dutch black metal with a hardcore. punk-oriented edge. It settles into driving blast beats for the majority of the runtime, using them as its main means of transportation and adding nuances in different moods of melody and levels of viciousness from the vocals and riffs.
Testament – Para Bellum
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: From the very get-go, it’s clear that thrash old-schoolers Testament aren’t content with coasting along on old tricks and dusty laurels. They slap you in the face with blackened viciousness and shades of grindcore savagery, throw you for a loop with a full-on ballad, pull you along on a heavy metal joyride, and in between you get varying levels of thrashy groove and aggression. They’ve had ideas, that for sure. The question is if they’ve kept a few too many in, to the detriment of coherency and flow. The middle part of the album feels a tad directionless, as if they felt that the ferociousness of the first third (excluding the ballad) was getting too predictable. Things pick back up and return to more familiar territory towards the end, landing you good and loaded with impressions, with the highlights for the absolute most part overshadowing the flaws.
Highlights: “Infanticide A.I.” and “Havana Syndrome”
Ültra Raptör – Fossilized
Genre: Heavy/speed metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Cyber-dinosaur, speedy heavy metal out of Quebec, Canada, and it’s pretty much exactly what you’d hope for. Epic, light on its feet, with hard rock groove and plenty of retro charm. The limitations of the vocals and so-so melodic work are a bit of a bummer for me, taking me out of an otherwise very fun experience, but if you’re less sensitive to this then you’ll likely have a blast.
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 