Reviews of metal albums released March 28 – April 03
Sludge, stoner, prog, doom, thrash, death and black – this week has most every flavor on the dark- and extreme metal spectrum, and only personal taste can truly decide what’s superior.
Anasarca – Achlys
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: We start off the week with some intense German death metal – not strictly technical, not distinctly old school, not overly brutal, but also not even slightly merciful. It’s apocalyptically menacing, chunky and precise, prioritizing darkness over fun.
Apolaustic – No Plenitude Without Suffering
Genre: Melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: This Swiss melodic black metal project knows how to employ razor sharp technicality without slicing apart the grimness. Sure, this isn’t the bleakest or most misanthropic you’ll come across in its subgenre, but while there’s an epic quality to the tremolo-led melodies, it’s all shrouded in darkness. It digs its claws into you whenever you start to feel too serene, and lets off when you’ve been lashed adequately by the hurricane riffs and drums. The lead melodies aren’t the strongest, and overall I could’ve wished for more personality, but it’s an impressive debut that hits the sweet spot between tame and chaotic.
Highlight: “Fragments from a Misty Journey”
Bloody Valkyria – Requiem: Reveries Of The Dying
Genre: Melodic black/folk metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: When black metal gets all melodic and epic, the “folk” label is always sort of lurking, peeking out from behind the nearest tree trunk. When the black metal is also Finnish, you can practically taste the breath of the folk coming from right over your shoulder. This is at least how I’ll justify my applying it to Bloody Valkyria’s third full-length, even though, strictly speaking, there’s more epic doom and melodic death metal than there is folk. But absent it is not, and it has a distinctly medieval and perhaps surprisingly sentimental flavor to it. If you like the idea of Mors Principium Est clad in armor and draped in black cloaks, wandering steadfastly into the unknown of the great, open wilderness, then this album delivers. A bit too leisurely in the middle, maybe, but still grandiose in the best way and with a very strong finish.
Highlights: “My Beloved North” and “Always”
Corrosion Of Conformity – Good God/Baad Man
Genre: Stoner/sludge metal/punk
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: Corrosion Of Conformity exists mostly outside the sphere of metal that I’ve actively listened to throughout my life, so expect no expert analysis of this, their 11th full-length. What they want you to have is unconventional, untamed stoner metal with a sludgy Southern feel, alternative mindset and plenty of punk rock energy. For me it’s a bit too uneven, like they’ve scattered a heap of tracks randomly across the record, that were all born of different states of mind. That being said, it goes perfectly with the band name. It’s rebellious, unbothered by expectations, free spirited and hard-hitting.
Highlights: “Gimme Some Moore” and “Baad Man”
Forlorn Citadel – An Oath Undone
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: If your D&D-campaigns are exclusively played by black metal fans, then this is what you need to have playing in the background. It’s all epic vibes with a bit of wraith-like snarling occasionally piercing through. Far too repetitive at times, and fairly odd in its contrasting moods of uplifting triumph and light-shy grimness. But pretty immersive if you’re in the right frame of mind.
Green Carnation – A Dark Poem, Part II: Sanguis
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: These Norwegian sad prog metallers are on a roll and already back after last year’s “Pt. I: The Shores of Melancholia”. For an album with the word “Melancholia” in the title, it’s in actuality quite upbeat in comparison to its successor. “Sanguis” is slower, and with several completely calm, acoustic songs and sections, so if you were missing energy last time ’round, you’re gonna find even less of it here. Look instead for melodic beauty and imaginative storytelling. The album takes you by the hand and guides you through a living maze of impressions – steadily rather than violently. If you’re all sold on the band’s style then you’ll absolutely love it. If you have doubts, then I doubt you’ll be convinced.
Highlight: “Sweet to the Point of Bitter”
Nervosa – Slave Machine
Genre: Melodic death/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: If Angela Gossow-era Arch Enemy at its most aggressive was your jam and you wish nothing more than for a return to that, then despair not – Nervosa have you covered. Oh, and I hope you like thrash, ’cause there’s a lot of that on here as well. “Slave Machine” (anyone else immediately thinking “Doomsday Machine”?), the band’s sixth full-length, starts overflowing with badass riffs already at the halfway mark, and there’s no letup after that. It’s staunchly aggressive, tight and suitably impatient. It’s in the songwriting department that it comes up a bit short. Once you’ve heard the first three or four songs, you’ve got the whole thing figured out. There’s no lack in energy though, nor in solos, nor in groove, nor in commitment.
Highlights: “Slave Machine” and “Beast of Burden”
Solnegre – Anthems For The Grand Collapse
Genre: Doom/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: Take heed of where I’ve placed the “doom” in the genre description, as this is not where you want to go for “unspeakable abomination encrusted with the collected evil that seeps through the cracks of the earth” kind of death doom. This is deep, atmospheric, heavy because it’s weighed down by dark emotion, and expansively melodic. I don’t think that all the vocal style variations included work quite as well, and it does rag a bit at times, but as a maturing step for a promising young band it’s definitely heading in the right direction.
Highlight: “The Axiom – Song for the Inert Part II”
Toxic Shock – Future Is Calling
Genre: Thrash metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: These Belgian crossover thrashers have been active since 2010, but only now are we getting their third full-length. Let’s hope their release frequency increases, ’cause I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of this kind of crisp, riff-happy, up-yours-attitude goodness. This stuff is all riffs, coarse shouting and eager drums, mostly at groove-centric mid tempo pace. While I appreciate the headbang-ability, I do think the whole album would sound better sped up, or at least with a good portion of more frantic, pedal-to-the-metal speed thrashing. So while it could probably benefit from being a bit more unhinged, I thoroughly enjoyed myself all the way through.
Highlights: “HQ” and “Reborn”
Vanir – Wyrd
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: If you’ve been listening to these Danes for a while (they’ve been at it since 2009), then I suspect that you know exactly what to expect on their latest offering. This is war-marching melodic death metal, kind of like Amon Amarth but a little less anthemic and without the occasional style-ironic antics. You get lots of cool riffs, rousing melody and dark-tinged aggression, but aside from its technical qualities it’s fairly by-the-numbers.
Void Of Light – Asymmetries
Genre: Atmospheric sludge metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: As debut albums go, this is an exceptionally strong one. What this Scottish band do is expand on Ghost Brigade-like crunchy and crisp heaviness with contemplative atmosphere and melody, and without overdoing it to the point of inviting tediousness. Everything feels measured, and the transitions organic. It’s powerful, hits like a brick but also flows like a firm breeze through tall grass. There’s melancholy and vulnerability, but also blackened harshness, although this is, crucially, also not overdone. I hear a bit of Cult of Luna, some Enslaved at their more straightforwardly atmospheric, but also hints of melodeath-like, on-the-hunt aggression, which suits it well. This is a cohesive yet multi-layered album that sets the bar high for the future.
Highlights: “Silver Mask” and “The Passing Hours”
(From last week) Zerre – Rotting on a Golden Throne
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: Most of the time I leave “misses” from earlier weeks lie, as I’ve usually got way too much new stuff to keep me busy. But this album greedily caught my attention and kept it in a vice grip throughout the entirety of its runtime. What we’ve got here is German old school thrash approaching crossover in the style of Municipal Waste and Power trip, with clear inspiration taken from early Anthrax and Metallica. It’s basically a non-stop assault of charging riffs and drums, with sharply barked vocals that fit the relentless, head-lobbing style perfectly. Whenever you think that they can’t possibly match the awesome riff you just banged your neck sore to on the previous track, they hit you with another. A pure shot of adrenaline that’s probably the best thrash I’ve heard since last year’s Warbringer record.
Highlights: “Deception of the Weak” and “Rotting on a Golden Throne”
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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