Reviews of metal albums released January 10 – January 16
This week’s releases don’t hold back in the slightest, pouring on aggression, bombast or atmospheric mood, leaving no question about their intended style.
Carrion VAEl – Slay Utterly
Genre: Technical/melodic death metal/deathcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: As interpretations of sonic carnage go, this is an extravagant one. Very much in the vein of bands like Summoning the Lich, Carrion Vael play distinctly technical and symphonic-leaning modern melodeath with vocal and rhythmic styles that will appeal just as much, if not more, to fans of melodic deathcore. They employ a massive, relentless sound that seeks to stampede all over you repeatedly, but there are also thematic intros of contrasting musical styles employing acoustic instruments and clean vocals, allowing you to reset before the next onslaught. While not exactly boundary-pushing, the album is loaded with bangers, performed with awesome precision, strong melodic aptitude and a clear desire to build on the formula and mix related styles.
Highlight: “Bisection 47” and “Truth Or Consequences”
Death Cult – Death Cult
Genre: Sludge metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: A howling, barely controlled tumble down a pit of existential despair, where you’re repeatedly stomped on by massive manifestations of humanity’s collective woes. This is the debut full-length of French sludgecore band Death Cult, and it seems they’ve unleashed enough pent up anger to sustain a good handful of albums, all in one go. It’s dark, coarse, with massive, chugging riffs and a tone so heavy it sounds like it would crack apart a concrete floor. A few sections get slightly repetitive, and the slower sections drag a bit, but they also build pressure, raising expectations for the next release of crushing fury.
Highlight: “Feeling Of Death”
Edenbridge – Set The Dark On Fire
Genre: Symphonic metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: This newest album by Austrian Symphonic metal band Edenbridge is like being whisked along on a slightly detached adventure, overlooking fantastically impactful events from a vantage points up in the clouds. At its best it feels both rousing and emotionally invested, but there are also a few too many parts with clunky melodic transitions, well-worn lyrical concepts and utterly unengaging rhythms. There are ups and downs, enough to please fans, but not to convince the average listener.
Hyperion – Cybergenesis
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: A dose of classic heavy metal coming at your from Italy, reminding me of Saxon first and foremost. If you’re just looking for that shreddy, no-nonsense hit of uncomplicated nostalgia, this will do the trick. The first part of the album is lively and fairly vital, but unfortunately it doesn’t last, and they seem to turn on the cruise control from about the fourth track and out. Nothing actively bad, but fairly unremarkable.
Kreator – Krushers Of The World
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Your take on this album is going to depend greatly on what kind of Kreator you want to come leaping out of the speakers at you. If you just want thrash, thrash and more thrash, at the very least you need to skip past the first four tracks, because judging by the first half of the album you’d think that they’ve fully converted into a modern melodeath band, very much reminiscent of Arch Enemy. And all throughout “Krushers Of The World” you get strong influxes of heavy- and even power metal, pushing melody to the forefront, prioritizing catchy, straightforward rhythms and insisting on nod-along, anthemic choruses. Worry not, there are plenty of ripping riffs in store, but if that’s mainly what you’re hoping for, then you’re likely going to be left with too little for it to be worth your time. However, if you like the band playing around with their sound and providing an easy-to-like sense of occasion with unmistakable Kreator character, then this album is very much for you.
Highlight: “Deathscream”
Marianas Rest – The Bereaved
Genre: Atmospheric doom/death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Bring on the grey weather feels. Marianas Rest is organizing a depressive-meditative retreat to the remote Finnish wilderness, having you trek along misty lakes, rocky mountainsides and whispering forests. Their style is folk-infused and expansively atmospheric melodeath played as doom. The song runtimes aren’t actually all that long, but they feel like they go on forever, and that’s mostly meant as a compliment. This is an escape, after all, sampling tragedy and melancholy as a way of opening up repressed pockets of your psyche. Overall, it is a tad monotone, but the balance of immersive melody, satisfying riffs, bitter aggression and rewarding buildups is exactly how you want it for this kind of style. If you have the patience for the sedate pace and don’t expect massive contrasts, I highly recommend letting this album carry you off into the muted expanse.
Highlights: “Rat in the Wall” and “Diamonds in the Rough”
Ov Sulfur – Endless
Genre: Symphonic/blackened deathcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: At its best this is a cathedral-sized gargoyle come to demonic life and laying waste to anything remotely pious in its immediate surroundings. Striding forth on massive roars and thundering riffs, with bitter-tinged melodies blaring into the black skies. But it also dips all the way into creed-level acoustic ballad territory to deliver some ear-wrenchingly on-the nose emotion, which breaks completely with the superficially unholy theme. And for large sections it’s so compulsively breakdown-prone that the progression grinds to a complete halt. For fans of the style it delivers more than enough oomph to get wild to, but it will most likely repel everyone else.
Total Annihilation – Mountains of Madness
Genre: Thrash/death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: This is the perfect sound to accompany an album cover adorned by carnivorous mountaintops and a good ‘ol pile of skulls. From the very first few seconds you’re in no doubt that you’re in for an absolute ripper of a rough-edged thrash record adorning itself unabashedly with the morbid trappings of old school death metal. No distractions, no unwarranted experimentation, just a snarling, chasing-the-scent killing spree of racing drums and frantically clawing riffs. It’s a great mix of grooves and wildly thrashing gallops, constantly switching techniques to keep it interesting and going from menacing, mid-tempo pacing to maniacal whirlwind strikes. If the Kreator album dropping this week wasn’t to your taste, I highly recommend giving this a shot.
Highlights: “The Art Of Torture” and “Chokehold”
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 