Reviews of metal albums released December 06 – December 12
The darkest month of the year receives a suitable injection of black and gothic metal, with an aftertaste of harsh, modern chugging to go with it.
Abbie Falls – Life is just a temporary plan
Genre: Metalcore/nu metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: One of my first thoughts diving into this latest release from Czech band Abbie Falls was that a lot of it reminds me of Bleed From Within. It’s got a lot of the same groove, technical melodic playing, and the same level of fury, with even more frantic energy. Where it diverges is in its unabashed leanings into modern metalcore, deathcore and nu metal conventions, like the predictable breakdowns, djent-guitars and sudden shifts to turntable hip-hop rhythms. There’s also a decent amount of electronica-based industrial in here as well, and it all adds up to a fairly varied and almost desperately expressive kind of sound, like the band is clawing for your attention at every turn. The good part of that is that they’re very obviously trying very hard, and got the instrumental chops to back it up. A tad too conventional in parts, but highly entertaining.
Highlights: “Black Void” and “Purge”
Dawn Of A Dark Age – Ver Sacrum
Genre: Atmospheric black/folk metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: A melding of traditional acoustic instruments and heavy metal-level aggressive black metal into long, chant-y, slightly ritualistic feeling songs that feel a lot like epic doom. Everything is well performed, and the music moves through many rewarding phases both beautiful, sad and bitter, but in the end there’s a bit too much repetition going on to really get excited.
Kaosophia – Funeral Of The Gods
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: A Ukrainian black metal duo that, despite a few influxes of soulful, guitar-based melody and rainy-day-atmosphere, is a staunchly gritted-teeth, infernal-rumble double bass drum, raspy-vocal dark and deeply bitter kind of thing with several similarities to typically mid-to-low-paced, Eastern European blackened death metal. Most of it sounds really good, but most of it is a bit too straightforward to leave a real mark.
Lord Of The Lost – Opvs Noir Vol. 2
Genre: Gothic/industrial metal/rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: The German goth sensations are back with the second part to their “Opvs Noir” album released earlier this year. They’re still very much leaning into the bombastic catchiness that saw them to the Eurovision final, and even have one of the co-finalists from that year joining them on a song. There are other guests as well, and to me these collabs make for the best tracks on the album. Outside of these, there are very, very few surprises.
Highlight: “What Have We Become?”
Lust Of Decay – Entombed In Sewage
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: Some strong ear defilement coming your way in the form of semi-brutal, gory death metal with harsh, hammering rhythms, gurgling vocals and slamming riffs. There’s a modicum of groove in there, but it’s never really allowed to dominate. This is about punishment and shoveling rotting filth.
Martröð – Draumsýnir eldsins
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: Enter a whirling confluence of the damned, like an infernal whirlpool in the dark, pulling at the edges of your sanity and challenging your sense of comfort at every turn. This Icelandic/American project plays a saturated form of black metal, pouring on layers of atmosphere and disharmonic melody over rushing drums, subtle, dissonant symphonic backing elements and growling vocals somehow sounding both wet and hoarse at the same time. It’s a kind of sound that sucks you in and leaves you too petrified to turn away, as it becomes your whole reality. There are only four tracks on the album, but each play different parts in the experience, as they explore new areas of the nightmarish underworld.
Highlight: “Sköpunin” and “Dauðinn”
Orbis de Ignis – Ancestral Strides
Genre: Doom/gothic metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: This album combines a lot of what I love about the sadder side of Amorphis (much thanks to the vocal style) and Norwegian classic doom band Sahg. What this is in essence is melancholy doom in the vein of My Dying Bride, but taken in a distinctly Finnish melodic direction and added a few mild progressive touches. The guitars get to soar into overcast skies on dark daydream tangents, and the tone glides between sullen gothic introspection and trickles of hope. Not all of the melody lines work quite as well, but the ones that do have the potential to stick in your mind a long time. This has a lot of promise, and I’m looking forward to hearing more.
Highlight: “Golden Snake”
Pincer+ – Who Are You When No One’s Around
Genre: Hardcore/metalcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: A crushing, heavily metallic hardcore album out of Australia that’s got great momentum, groovy-yet-abrasive chugs and, of course, ground-splitting breakdowns. It insistently grabs a hold of your attention and keeps shaking you to the beat of the music to ensure that you’re involved all the way through the sub-22 minute runtime. There are a few, shoegaze-y melodic moments, but mostly this is about slamming your feet into the ground to the musical equivalent of breaking apart a concrete floor with sledgehammers.
Highlight: “Concrete Lullaby”
Sun Of The Suns – Entanglement
Genre: Progressive groove/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: Fronting their sound with the rumbling chug-grooves of the likes of Orbit Culture, Sun of the Suns is an Italian semi-progressive groove- and technical death metal band. It’s a modern style, but not embracing trendy tropes either, instead opting for brutal aggression mixed with classic melodic depth. There are not quite enough songs that really stand out, but there’s nothing weak either, so if you’re looking for some well-executed heavy riffs with a bit of space in between to get lost in, then this is for you.
Highlight: “On The Last Day Of Earth”
Windswept – The Devil’s Vertep
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: A black metal project by Drudkh’s Roman Sayenko, this is back-to-basics evil stuff with marching rhythms and stripped-down winter gale melodies. It sounds raw and suitably primitive, but with some depth to it, and a few well-chosen folk elements. The vocal style is a bit too phlegm-y for my taste, and overall there aren’t a ton of distinguishing features, but it’s to-the-point and confident in its unholy brand.
Highlight: “The Potion”
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?
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