Reviews of metal albums released November 08 – November 14
A week that might make you feel better about embracing the coming darkness of winter, with black and blackened metal delivering truly outstanding releases.
1914 โ Viribus Unitis
Genre: Black/death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5
Review: Music about WW1 should be grim, and there is little doubt that Ukrainian band 1914 agrees with me on that point. The three sides to their sound play different parts in setting the scene of warfare – the blackened presence of wasted life and hopelessness, the death metal roar of merciless, mechanized slaughter, and the doom lull of heart rending sadness and misery. Their fourth full-length exudes anger and bitterness, but also reverence. It’s extremely well balanced, and spins a dynamic tale that takes us through the entirety of the war, and chances are good you’ll come out the other end feeling things you might not have expected from a blackened death metal project.
Highlights: “1914 (The Siege of Przemyลl)” and “1918 Pt 3: ADE (A duty to escape)”
Bell Witch & Aerial Ruin โ Stygian Bough Vol. II
Genre: Doom metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: It’s become a pretty safe bet that whatever lurches our way from the musty tomb Bell Witch surely record in is going to be top-notch. This time they’ve decided to make a sequel to the 2020 collaboration effort “Stygian Bough Volume I”, and once again they’ve teamed up with Aerial ruin. The good thing is that, unlike some collaboration projects, this genuinely changes the sound. Yes, it’s still funeral doom, but, despite the sorrowful tone and rather mellow vocal style, it feels like it’s (near) constantly on the move. It’s gripping, doesn’t take forever to build, and doesn’t feel repetitive for more than fleeting moments. It doesn’t quite send shivers down my spine with its peaks like they’ve managed in the past, but this is a dense, rewarding album that no doom fan should miss.
Highlights: “Waves Became the Sky” and “The Told and the Leadened”
Chairmaker โ Leviathan Carcass
Genre: Grindcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: If nothing but the fastest and most furious will do for you, forget the movies and put this one on. Maybe on repeat, ’cause it’s over in less than 15 minutes. This is grindcore with death metal elements, that simply does not let up, yet calls attention to its technical riff- and drum work just enough for you to get half an appreciative nod in before it rages on. There’s a bit of dissonance and a few breakdowns just to jar your brain even further. The vocal style is a bit one-dimensional, and it’s not the most imaginative thing you’ll hear this week. But it sure as hell rips.
Highlight: “Pigfucker”
Lamp Of Murmuur โ The Dreaming Prince In Ecstasy
Genre: Black/gothic metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: Following up 2023’s excellent “Saturnian Bloodstorm” was never gonna be a walk in the park, but the L.A.-based solo project Lamp of Murmuur has risen to the task. It’s not exactly more of the same, but the style will be very recognizable, and it brings the same level of unholy enthusiasm, sounding almost gleeful in its unreserved instrumental approach. The symphonic, gothic and prog elements that were present last time around have now been boosted, making for a more melodic and stylistically varied sound. Slightly less sharp and aggressive, but still dramatic, and still undeniably black metal. Some listeners will likely bemoan the slight departure from the “Immortal sound” into something a bit more rounded, but it still feels daring, committed and conceptually solid.
Highlights: “Forest of Hallucinations” and “Reincarnation of a Witch”
Stellar Circuits โ Phantom :: Phoenix
Genre: Progressive/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: Here’s some moody, silky-melodied and djent-riffed prog metal for those who like it melodic and moderately emotional. I hear Chevelle, some Deftones, a pinch of later era Linkin Park and a tiny drop of Gojira – ingredients that all play together quite nicely, for a coherent and particular kind of flavor rather than a wild, adventurous mishmash. It does sound like they’re just coasting along in certain parts, but they certainly know how to pick it up and pour out some proper aggression and head-turning instrumentation. The vocals have great range, and overall the album feels highly mature and accomplished, while retaining a young and vital sound.
Highlights: “Bury The Ashes” and “The War Within”
Veilburner โ Longing For Triumph, Reeking Of Tragedy
Genre: Progressive death/black metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: Now on the 8th full-length release in 11 years, the maddened musical forges of Veilburner surely never run cold. Last year’s “The Duality of Decapitation and Wisdom” was the one that finally caught my attention, and I was both taken aback and enamored with how it sounded so different from pretty much everything else in the blackened death metal sphere. The weirdness thankfully lives on with this one. Instead of a forbidden, underground ritual, we’re now in the devil’s laboratory/workshop, where all sorts of abominations are born, altered and grafted to each other and all manner of impractical objects. It’s a riff-heavy release, with some solos and tasteful melodic work, which makes it extra fun, but it’s also got a patient, doomy side that does introduce a bit of repetition and slight stagnation every now and then. Still, it very much stands on its own and keeps up the highly impressive quality of this hard-working band.
Highlights: “Pestilent Niche” and “That Which Crypts Howls Grandeur”
Voidceremony โ Abditum
Genre: Experimental death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: How about some death metal in the style of an experimental jazz jam, while being unpredictably pulled into a black hole? This is a dense sounding and fairly restless sort of listening experience, with any one approach rarely lasting more than 15 seconds. It’s well produced, and they haven’t drowned the instrumental performances in layers of atmosphere, which makes it surprisingly quick to get into if you’re of the mind to pay proper attention. If you’re not, then you might very well suffer a headache. Behind all the perceived randomness there’s some razor sharp technicality, and you’re definitely getting a well-measured and varied progression rather than just a wall of noise.
Highlight: “Seventh Ephemeral Aura”
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 