Reviews of metal albums released January 24 – January 30
Black, death and doom metal deliver the goods this week, taking various forms to welcome in a wide range of preferences.
Banisher – Metamorphosis
Genre: Technical/progressive death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: Semi-modern, speed- and groove-minded tech death out of Poland is what we’ve got here. It’s not trying to break any records in terms of brutality, heaviness or agility, instead going for an, at times, almost hard rock-reminiscent kind of light-footedness and a prog-like interest in structure and rhythm. Every now and then this results in something actually quite arresting, but it’s not quite consistently entertaining or interesting enough to leave a lating mark.
Circular Ruin – A Sermon In Tongues
Genre: Progressive black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: Don’t expect anything deeply conceptual, but Swedish band Circular Ruin also don’t play strictly by the black metal rules on their debut full-length. Buddy-subgenres death, gothic and speed all come on temporary visits, with others stopping by as well. Parts of it bring a non-melodic and chilly Tribulation to mind. Overall there’s a slight over-reliance on tonal and technical tropes, and I don’t think that quite enough of the distance towards a true genre blend is travelled in order to achieve notable distinction. But it’s well performed and consistent in style, laying a strong foundation for further expansion of their sound.
Highlight: “The Altering Altar”
Invictus (JPN) – Nocturnal Visions
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: If you want to liven up classic, lurching, groaning, graveyard-grinding death metal without losing that feeling of merciless dread, then I can think of few better ingredients than thrash. Japanese band Invictus have added just the right amount to avoid speeding off and leaving the ominous-toned malevolence behind, while supplying murderous riff candy in spades. It’s a hungry beast that lures you in with nod-along grooves, then strikes from below and churns up the ground around you in bedrock-crushing jaws. It’s not exactly what I’d call a fun album, but it does appeal to that primitive appreciation for raw, chugging wickedness. Not hugely varied, but solid from start to finish.
Highlights: “Lucid Dream Trauma” and “Frozen Tomb”
Kosuke Hashida – Moment Of Silence
Genre: Grindcore/death/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Here’s a band that will not wait for you one single second. They rip away on their unstoppable killing spree from the very first second, and pull you – joints dislocating and feet flapping in the slipstream – along for the indiscriminate carnage. Kosuke Hashida is a deathgrind project out of Tokyo further supercharged with thrash and speed metal, resulting in a runtime of roughly 20 minutes spread out over 14 blistering tracks. I was fully onboard for last year’s “Outrage”, and on “Moment Of Silence” they’ve achieved a crisper production and tighter performances overall, with about the same balance of all-out rampage and high-tempo riff grooves. With the last one they narrowly escaped the feeling of repetition, managing a moderate variation in tempo and ferocity, but this time around I’d say they’ve tipped the scale, making for a few noticeably interchangeable sections throughout. That being said, the savagery has been upped considerably, which I hardly thought was possible, and the delivery is absolutely on point, meaning I can’t help but have a great fucking time from tip to tail.
Highlights: “Left in Pieces” and “Tokyo Calling”
Lone Wanderer – Exequiae
Genre: Doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: If nothing else will do but a solid overdose of gothic, funeral-procession grimness, then this is exactly the kind of stuff the doctor is likely to order. For a 1hr 12min+ album this flows surprisingly well, at least through the first two songs, and then it seems to lose its bearings slightly in the mist, and slows into even more of a lurch. Beautifully tragic melodies describe the ponderous journey all along, although some of the momentum bleeds off along the way. You’re accompanied by groan-growly vocals and lamenting riffs that are tastefully well defined through the production. A bit overindulgent, but well layered and quite absorbing.
Highlight: “Existence Nullified”
Malignant Aura – Where All Of Worth Comes To Wither
Genre: Death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: Australia’s Malignant Aura know how to effectively employ ugliness in their death doom, and they hit the sweet spot balancing between the pitfalls of messy ear torture and disturbing theatricality on this their second full-length. This isn’t the kind of stuff that gets lost in winding tunnel systems for minutes on end, only occasionally rearing its head to let out a ragged roar from decomposing vocal chords. This thing thunders along with purpose, crashing through barriers and only occasionally slowing to chew the prey and random debris it’s scooped up in its monstrous maw. It’s got strong momentum, but enough patience to creep you out from time to time with stalking crawls and unnerving, wet gurgling. It might be a bit too preoccupied with mood and style to go anywhere revelatory, but it’s a savage beast of several talents that successfully expands beyond narrow genre confines to deliver both pulse-raising brutality as well as subterranean discomfort.
Highlight: “An Abhorrent Path to Providence” and “Beneath a Crown of Anguish”
Møl – Dreamcrush
Genre: Progressive black/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: Call it blackgaze, call it blackened alt rock, call it progressive post-black metal, the fact that it’s not a simple task to label is absolutely part of the appeal. You’ve got snarling aggression and crackling, bitter riffs dancing rather than playing tug-of-war with indie- and garage rock rhythms and harmonious, clean, alt-tinged vocals, and heartening, vibrant electronica-boosted melodies swirling around moments of feet-shuffling bleakness. Those hoping for an equal balance of nihilistic heaviness and uplifting balminess might find themselves overstuffed with the latter, especially in the middle section of the album, but adjusting your expectations you’ll likely be able to to appreciate just how well these two extremes are woven together.
Highlights: “Young” and “Garland”
Orgg – Indomita
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: An Italian semi-melodic black metal band here releasing their third full-length, blending war-themed, lamenting solemnness with classic, hoarse-snarling, tremolo-fronted aggression. They’ve got some odd quirks in terms of rhythm transitions here and there, and not the best flow, but a cohesive temperament and convincing mood.
Sanctvs – De l’Abîme au Plérôme
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: This is the kind of sound you’d expect to herald the end of the world. It’s monumental without being too dense, and balances harsh clamor with bittersweet, sweeping shards of melody. The mood is fairly uniform throughout, but the feeling of scope and directness varies with the changing current of intensity. There are epic, truly arresting parts as there are sections of fairly typical blastbeats and tremolo, but it’s all performed very well regardless of perceived originality.
Highlight: “Rex Hominum”
Shine – Wrathcult
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: A riff-focused blackened death project out of Poland that foregoes thematic depth for directness and energy-rich musicality, with elements of heavy- and thrash metal in the riff- and rhythm style. It sort of lands in between a lot of different chairs – not quite catchy enough to be super fun and not dark or brutal enough to deliver any sort of gut-punch. But with a clearer sense of direction I see this going promising places.
Skulld – Abyss Calls To Abyss
Genre: Death/thrash metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: It’s not often I go from track to track to track on an album wondering when the hell it’s gonna stop being unapologetically badass, only to find that it simply doesn’t. At least until the album actually ends. This is Italian band Skulld’s sophomore full-length, and it took me completely by surprise. The tone, mentality and beefiness is all death metal, but it’s mostly played like metallic hardcore and thrash at mid- to high tempos, alternating crunchy grooves with reckless stampedes and threatening tribal beats. The vocals roar, snarl and shout, and while it’s always aggressive, the mood shifts between in-your-face intimidation to ominous prowling to playful spite to bloodthirsty chases. It’s not super tightly performed, it’s not impeccably put together, but good goddamn hell it still slaps like a nuclear-powered revolving door.
Highlights: “Le Diable and the Snake” and “Mother Death”
Stabbing – Eon Of Obscenity
Genre: Brutal death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: This isn’t the place to come to for “with the program”-reviews of brutal death metal, as much of the appeal of the hallmark tropes of the subgenre is mostly lost on me. The mechanical, clicky rhythms, the percussive riffs, the monotone vocal approach – it all becomes a bit too predictable for me, and I’m faced with all of these elements on this latest album by Texas band Stabbing. That being said, this delivers on many other fronts as well. The unnerving tech-ticks, the beastly guitar tone, the clear interest in delivering chugging punishment in a whole host of different forms and tempos. It feels massive, with obvious involvement from the people behind it, with enough highlights to keep even my interest throughout.
Highlights: “Eon of Obscenity” and “Inhuman Torture Chamber”
Tarlung – Axis Mundi
Genre: Doom/stoner/sludge metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: Fuzz-crunchy, moderately muted, groovy, coarse-vocal goodness all the way. Austrian band Tarlund sounds like one of those stoner-doom bands that’s out on a steadily marching journey. “Axis Mundi” presents a back-to-basics, deliberate, unadorned kind of sound that lays bare a few imperfections, and boosts charm as a consequence. It’s not an altogether tame kind of experience, as dreamy, slow-flowing melodic and clean parts are contrasted by rumbling storm fronts of crashing heaviness. It never gets out of hand, but secures a sense of slight unpredictability and adventure that involves both revelation, relaxation, whimsy and danger.
Highlights: “Axis Mundi” and “The Valley of Nowhere”
Urne – Setting Fire To The Sky
Genre: Metalcore/sludge metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: I was quite favorably inclined towards Urne’s last album, 2023’s “A Feast On Sorrow”, with its characteristic blend of snarling sludge, acrobatic thrash and groovy metalcore, with a good bit of stark emotion thrown in there as well. Surprisingly, most of these qualities are missing on “Setting Fire To The Sky”. It’s now far friendlier, warmer, simpler. The rhythms are straightforward, the aggression has been dulled down and it’s much more uniform in style. It still carries emotion, but it’s softer, less urgent. Elements of Mastodon and Gojira have entered the formula. It sounds bigger, chunkier, better defined. And it’s far from bad. But it’s also far from daring.
Highlight: “Setting Fire To The Sky”
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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