Reviews of metal albums released March 14 – March 20
This week had a lot on its mind, with bands big and small, young and old and styles ranging from the deeply melodic to the intentionally ugly.
Chalice Of Suffering – The Raven Cries One Last Time
Genre: Doom metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Review: A funeral doom project that seeks to immerse you in lamenting melody, funeral bagpipes and all. The clean, instrumental sections work quite well, but the heaviness has no real… heaviness. Making the slooow buildups amount to not all that much.
Cultist – Spiritual Atrophy
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: Death metal does well being rough around the edges, as long as it it’s still competently performed and packs a punch. All of this checks out on Cultist’s second full-length. The production is kinda fuzzy and the vocals are buried in the mix, but there’s thunder in the low end, and a hunger to the riffs. Unfortunately, the songwriting is a bit all over the place, as they experiment with groove, dissonance, caveman barbarism, black metal evil, and more.
Crouch – Breaking The Catatonic State
Genre: Experimental sludge metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: Stark, hard-hitting sludge metal drawing from both hardcore and doom, and refusing to stick to any one rhythm approach for more than a few moments at a time. It’s dissonant, combative and unpredictable, which at its best feels intellectually stimulating, and at its worst quite tiresome.
Dawn Of Ashes – Anatomy Of Suffering
Genre: Electronic/industrial/black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: Smear on your corpse paint but switch out your bullet belt with a bandolier of colorful vial shots. It’s time to rave for Satan. Dawn of Ashes is a Los Angeles-based industrial black metal band that’s completely embraced EDM/EBM on this, their 12th (!) full-length release. The synths are spooky, the beats are steady and the vibes are hypnotic. Not my jam, but I’d take this over pretty much any generic dancefloor music.
Decipher – Thelema
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Decipher are a Greek band playing a death-leaning, riff-driven variant of black metal with modest hints at melody, although nothing like the epic stuff you’d expect from fellow countrymen Rotting Christ, and certainly not Septicflesh. This is focused, bitter-sounding and actually a bit understated, although it’s not the type o thing that gets lost in a hazy forest lake of misery. I don’t quite find enough on it that really catches my attention, but all the right elements are in place, and performed without fault for that proper unholy feeling.
Highlight: “Return to Naught”
Dragsholm – The Bloodlines Of Bram
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: Although not demonstrating the very tightest of performances, this is growling, gutsy black metal with just enough epic-toned melody to call it entertaining, and more than enough crunchy death metal riffing to invite some serious headbanging.
Egregore – It Echoes In The Wild
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: This one has a bit of that Veilburner madness to it, and I’m all here for it. While it sounds plenty demonic and enveloped in clouds of witch cauldron fumes, instead of diving for the abyss, this aims to captivate you with a seductive, complex dance of shifting rhythm patterns, charging riffs and heavy metal gallops and dive bombs that would be right at home on a blackened thrash or speed album. It channels a lot of that Venom-esque, rough-around-the-edges, “just go for it” kind of sensory overwhelming aggression that doesn’t need a lot of fancy production wizardry or dazzling technicality, but is rooted in classic techniques. Another thing that I love about it is that it just doesn’t tire. Apart from on the epic closing track, there’s very little, if anything in the way of atmospheric breaks or “restful” sections. It constantly moves forward, eager to shock, corrupt and amaze, and is filled to the brim with highlights.
Highlight: “Voice on The West Wind” and “Servants of the Second Death”
Empire Of Disease – While Everything Collapses
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Review: If you’re into old school melodeath riffs, then this one is plain enjoyable from start to finish. That’s not to say that it’s without weaknesses – the vocals are a bit lacking in range and force, it’s certainly not rewriting any books in terms of originality, and they’re mixing modern and classic elements seemingly as the mood takes them. But the spirit of it is a real headbanger, and that I admire.
Evermore – Mournbraid
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: No, not Nevermore. While this is on the slightly darker side for power metal, it’s still certainly not short on soaring vocals and epic choruses. It tries to add a shade of solemnity, but it’s mostly a veneer that’s easily broken through with thrashy riffs and vibrant solos.
Exodus – Goliath
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: You know what time it is when Exodus enters the fray. Time to windmill-headbang your neck into a rubik’s cube-level puzzle for your chiropractor to solve while getting spitefully shouted at and pulled into the flames of damnation. That being said, if you were hoping for a ferocious, pedal-to-the-metal death race kind of thrash album, you might find your enthusiasm waning fairly quickly, as this is a distinctly mid-paced kind of affair. Suits me just fine, as the menace factor is palpable. This is not an experimental sort of Exodus record, as it sounds like they had a very good idea of what this should sound like, and so it feels confident and coherent. But not all of it is as memorable, and the 54-minute + runtime feels unnecessary. It’s a great riffing time with an awesome vocal performance, that’s a bit short on surprises.
Highlights: “3111” and “Promise You This”
Gaerea – Loss
Genre: Blackened metalcore
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Generally, I try to keep personal expectations from influencing my rating of a new album as much as possible, but with a track record like that of Gaerea, it’s hard to stay neutral. I completely adored their last two albums in particular. That adoration ruptures violently with “Loss”, as if the great eye on the cover of 2024’s “Coma” were to burst in a cascade of blood and gelatinous tissue. I don’t pay much attention to the lore or goings on of bands in between releases, or the singles they release leading up to a new album, as I want my reaction to be as raw as possible. So the stylistic shift I was presented with on “Loss” came as a miserable shock to me. What it makes me realize is that Gaerea was balancing on top of a precipice two years ago. A precipice they have now plummeted from the other side of. They have all but left the realm of black metal behind as if it was a relic, and embraced slick, emotional, symphonically majestic and at times even pop-oriented metalcore. And so, rating this as a darkly cinematic metalcore album, it’s solid in most ways. It sounds rich, melodically expansive, if a tad generic, and with a buttery smooth production, managing big highs and lows of intensity effortlessly, with obvious vocal and instrumental talent to back it up. But not quite enough hard-hitting aggression or awe-inspiring technicality to counter the towering mass of soft sentimentality – a balance that many now-peers in the sphere of metalcore and melodic deathcore really excel at achieving. As someone struggling not to look backwards, this to me feels like a sappy, trend-chasing dismissal of the actual tonal depth, complexity and heaviness of the past. Quite possibly my DOTY (disappointment of the year).
Highlight: “Hellbound”
Graufar – Via Necropolis
Genre: Melodic black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Mixing piercing vocals with classic tremolo, beastly death metal riffs and gloomy melodies, this feels like an old school melodeath album that died and resurrected as an undead in a long-forgotten necropolis. It worships at both the altar of primitive chugs and that of atmospherically backed grandeur, taking you on a tour of most of the elements that makes melodic black metal great. It’s not complex or what I’d call impressively layered, but it’s got the same consistent instrumental focus and sinister vibes all the way throughout, making it easy to like and very hard to get tired of.
Highlights: “Blizzard and Blaze”
Gutvoid – Liminal Shrines
Genre: Progressive death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: This is old school death metal lured out of its cave with treats and led gloriously astray on a brain-spinning excursion through an unpredictably morphing landscape. It’s not quite as weird as I probably make it sound, but it’s certainly not straightforward. The gurgling, coarse brutality is constant, as is the rolling heaviness and the tone of utter menace, but it travels on progressive rhythms and picks up echoes of ancient atmosphere and deviously slithering melody. It’s not at all unnecessarily dissonant or chaotic, it feels patient and deliberate, but rarely fails to surprise with its numerous twists and turns.
Highlights: “Lead Me Beyond the Sleeping I” and “Spell Reliquary”
Hanging Garden – Isle Of Bliss
Genre: Melodic doom/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: Now in their 9th full-length, Hanging Garden aren’t anything near newcomers to the scene of Finnish melodic doom/death, but the fame of such similar-sounding peers as Insomnium, Swallow the Sun and Amorphis has so far eluded them. And while I highly doubt that “Isle Of Bliss” will be the album to break them into the mainstream, it certainly makes a strong argument for giving this 7-strong collection of solemn doomsayers the credit that they’re due. While not without force or scope, this is the kind of atmospheric extreme doom that you let carry you away into wispy lands of lamenting over what could have been, not the kind that ushers you to bellow your lungs out from a majestic mountaintop. It’s thickly layered in instrumental beauty, with some meaty riffs and varied vocal styles, and while a bit monotonous for short stretches, it’s far less ponderous than a lot of other contemporary doom projects.
Highlights: “Isle of Bliss” and “To Outlive the Nine Ravens”
Hautajaisyö – Surun paino
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: It would take some pretty shoddy craftsmanship for me not to have a good time with crunchy, old-school-style Scandinavian death metal, and Finnish band Hautajaisyö are in absolutely no danger of incurring my displeasure. Thrashy riffing, monstrous vocals and a relentlessly dark and threatening demeanor all work very well for them. The songwriting could definitely be stronger, with some slightly halting rhythm transitions and jumbled buildups, but the essence of it is pure menace.
Highlight: “Maan Nielemä”
Iron Firmament – In the Land of Pre-Human Kings
Genre: Atmospheric/raw black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: This is an album that, unless you are already familiar with Iron Firmament’s earlier work, will likely surprise you with its depth. What immediately strikes you is that this is raw black metal, so unless that is very specifically your jam, it will take a little time getting used to the speakers-muffled-by-a-thick-duvet sound quality. The album cover very aptly points to the thematic nature of epic dark fantasy, and hints to the fact that you’ll be invited to lose yourself in wanderings under the shadows of ancient ruins and among the debris of recent battlefields. I actually found myself caught off guard a couple of times at just how well the atmosphere is integrated with the cold, blasting bitterness, and found my appreciation growing steadily every minute that I spent with it.
Highlights: “Atlantis in Permafrost” and “The Coast of Worlds”
Karmian – Horror Vacui
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: An Italian melodic death metal band that pull strongly from that early Amon Amarth “marching of the horde”-sound, but also from classic death metal acts like Cannibal Corpse. In the end though, they transform this foundation with a mindset for modern, technical playfulness and a great love for groove. There are some real bangers on here, which are unfortunately offset by a few clear stumbles.
Necrogore – Ectoplasmic Rape Phenomena
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: The debut full-length of this Italian band, thrusting you face first into a mound of steaming gore and laughing as you gag. This is filthy, massively crusty old-school-brutal death metal without a shred of pity or remorse. It’s coarse, fairly chaotic and ugly, with little in terms of groove or steady rhythms to hold on to.
Papa Necrose – Anthropomorphy Execution
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: This hitherto unknown to me Brazilian death metal band reminds me a lot of Ripped To Shreds on this, their fourth full length, and in my book that’s a promising starting point to say the least. Extremely riff-happy, raw-throated and gleefully malevolent towards religion and the catholic church in particular, with a playful attitude to serving up a variety of engaging rhythm approaches, it’s making all the right arguments to turn to the dark side. Also packed with tasty solos and a splash of that Sepultura/Soulfly tribal vibe, the only real thing holding it back is a tendency to unnecessarily stretch out certain song sections, maybe intended as contrasting breaks in the ferocity. The result is perhaps not the best flow out there, but it keeps grabbing your attention and stays energetic and inventive to the very end.
Highlights: “Hammered in the Mind” and “Cathedral of Death”.
The Silver – Looking Glass Hymnal Blue
Genre: Progressive black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Sporting obvious talent from Horrendous and Crypt Sermon, and very little in terms of stylistic influence from those bands, The Silver is a sort-of-supergroup that plays progressive, atmospheric and slightly avant-garde melodic black metal, and it’s a hoot of a time. That being said, the tone is mostly on the cold and sorrow-tinged side, so it doesn’t come off as whacky or whimsical in any way, but it’s also far too agile and technically interesting to get you properly immersed in any sort of pool of misery. Mixing clean and harsh vocals and instruments into a complex, vital drama cast in blue moonlight, it’s a strong statement of creativity and versatility that has great potential for even further exploration.
Highlight: “Tendrils”
Via Doloris – Guerre et Paix
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: What the realm of atmospheric black metal can’t claim to have in abundance is strong individual band personality. But, being the solo project of guitarist Gildas le Pape, you can very quickly hear the foundations of a strong melodic signature in the guitar work in particular, and it goes a long way by itself. Helped by a great production and avoidance of the biggest and most tired tropes of the subgenre, this is a beautifully flowing and subtly distinct piece of black metal that balances fluid melody with nocturnal ire.
Highlight: “Un Franc Soleil”
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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