Reviews of metal albums released December 27 – January 02
We made it into the new year, and the first wave of new metal music lands harder than you might expect.
Beyond the Structure – Born of Naught
Genre: Experimental/technical death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: These guys care little for coherence, and tire quickly of any one approach, be it rhythm, melody, mood or even instrument (yes, it’s got sax). It reminds me a fair bit of Gojira in parts, as it has traces of the same kind of groove and technique, with roughly the same level of aggression. It’s too wavering in style to really land anything truly solid, but it’s an interesting trip that’s not overly disturbing to listen to.
Callisto 5 – Imaginary Explorer
Genre: Progressive thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: A peculiar meld of mid-tempo thrash and spacey prog rock, that either floats of writhes around in unexpected directions, prioritizing playfulness and exploration over genre-bound satisfaction. There’s a bit too many half-committed approaches after another for it to land anything coherent, and it could have benefitted from a good deal more technical ferocity, but as a concept and creative attempt, it’s pretty exciting.
Ellende – Zerfall
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: I jumped on the Ellende appreciation train with 2022’s “Ellenbogengesellschaft”, and remained sufficiently unfamiliar with their material to not catch the fact that 2024’s “Todbringerin” was a re-recording of 2016’s “Todbringer” until after I’d already written the review. No matter, it’s excellent regardless, and the same can happily be said about their latest, completely new full-length “Zerfall”. Sadness is still the prevailing emotion, but, as before, it’s not treated with the ugly vehemence and bitterness that would be typical among the scowling denizens of the black metal realm. Nor is it wrapped in fluffy layers of naïveté or shoved into your ears with heavy-handed earnestness. It’s like watching prolonged snippets of natural events that simply feel tragic to the human sensibility. The band experiments with musical styles, scaling up and down the sense of grandeur to suit the moment, but also to give each song distinction, and I do feel like I’ve been part of something comprehensive and significant at the end of it. It might feel a tad too tame and overly patient to some in parts, but to me this is very close to the perfect balance between beauty and emotional pain.
Highlights: “Reise” and “Wahrheit Teil II”
Erlking – Ends of the Earth
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: Now for some nostalgia-inducing heavy metal sending your mind to a simpler and more uplifting time. Serving you rock ‘n’ roll rhythms, soaring hard rock solos and earworm choruses, this would fit right into the less technical corner of the NWOBHM. The band does a lot of things right to get your mind in the proper place, and there’s lot to like, but they have a little way to go in terms of memorable melodies and matching the vocal performances to them.
Lay Waste – Lay Waste
Genre: Grindcore/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: The goings on of the world doesn’t hold up just because we’ve barely entered the new year, so why should the music? This is ferocious protest-grindcore of the anti-fascist variant, which feels very earned given the state of things. It’s got some great, crunchy hardcore chugs, but these are mostly conserved for the parts where they are able to somewhat contain their fury. The rest of the time it’s pure mayhem.
Highlight: “NOTHING WAS DONE”
The Malum Process – Ignominious Feast of Decay
Genre: Brutal death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: Technically on-point modern brutal, slamming death metal that feels a bit like being receiving a high-frequency series of moderate shunts directly to the face. It hits hard and is performed well, but leans on to tropes and conventions for dear life.
Night Savage – Eternal Revenge
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Riff-o-licious 80’s-style heavy metal that manages to combine a small dash of sleaze with a shadow of doomy darkness. It’s very much exploring a time-stamped, very specific style, but doing so with a great sense of fun and not content to simply copy. The production is full and warm, yet allowing for crisp detail. The lyrics and melody lines are well written if not phenomenally original, with a good sense for the memorable, without resorting to ballads or getting overly anthemic. Nothing disappoints and the performances remain solid throughout.
Highlight: “Space Master”
Null Existence – Cryptic Monolith
Genre: Technical death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: Melodic and mildly symphonic tech death that’s balancing on the border into deathcore. There’s plenty of good performances on display, and overall it feels alive and varied. It does, however, seem a bit too preoccupied with style and technique to establish any real theme or other distinction to speak of.
Upiór – Forefathers’ Eve (Redemption)
Genre: Symphonic death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: A French symphonic death project that goes big on drama and technicality, with a strong sense of storytelling to go in between the bass drum barrages. It’s the kind that will envelop you with sound, awe you with its majesty and inspire vivid images of epic-tragic scenes. It can’t quite match the level of Fleshgod Apocalypse in terms of memorable songwriting, but will no doubt please the same kind of audience, as it delivers many of the same qualities. It’s precise, lofty yet dark and aggressive, and doesn’t lose focus of the task/story at hand despite a good number of instrumental interludes.
Highlight: “Forefather’s Eve (Part II)”
Wildhunt – Aletheia
Genre: Thrash/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: I feel like “epic thrash metal” can mean a few different things, but I think it’s very apt for Wildhunt’s stylie, in the same way that “epic doom” is a good description for what bands like Crypt Sermon dabble in. You feel like you’re being served up old wanderer’s tales, meant to both amaze, excite and, to a certain degree, intimidate. The riffing is sweet, so are the solos, although the instrument/vocal melodic interplay isn’t always on point.
Highlight: “The Holy Pale”
Woe – Legacies of Human Frailty
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: New York band Woe has mastered the ability to make “middle of the road” black metal with a clear signature of their own, that doesn’t try to crawl back under the bark of the original Norwegian subgenre tree. It brings in traces of atmosphere and melody, but remains relentlessly aggressive and fairly nihilistic. They show off a decently wide gamut of vocal- and guitar techniques, and successfully employ a dynamic rhythm approach with smooth transitions from section to section. Fresh ideas are mixed with dependable tricks, and they do a great job of highlighting and expanding strong melody- and riff lines as the backbones of the songs, without them getting repetitive.
Highlight: “Fresh Chaos Greets the Dawn”
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 