Reviews of metal albums released April 25 – May 01
A for the most part heavy ass week that draws on the eternal, blood-red wellspring of death metal for its displays of neck-snapping displeasure.
Ashen Horde – The Harvest
Genre: Progressive death/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: Ashen Horde are a band that clearly don’t want you to care too hard which camp of extreme metal they actually belong to. Both tech death and progressive black metal are clearly present, but then they throw in some avant-garde-like clean sections here and there that break up the flow and drastically shifts the tone. It’s technically competent as all hell, and not without strong sections, but overall it’s quite unclear whether there was any sort of cohesive idea for the album from the onset.
Cage Fight – Exuvia
Genre: Groove metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Originally a thrashy, metallic hardcore band, Cage Fight make a bit of a departure on their sophomore full-length. I’d say that they’re now competing with bands like Lamb of God and Bleed From Within for level of groove, and is much closer to a metalcore band like Employed to Serve in their use of melody than a heavy hardcore band like Terror. It’s more versatile, slicker, more willing to dip into trendy traits like deathcore breakdowns, slams and pig squeal vocals. Does that mean it’s no longer good?
No, for what it is, this new direction of the band still packs a punch. It’s aggressive, highly energetic and avoiding getting stuck in mires of sappy emotion. It’s basically the same octagon warrior – super fit and lethal if you underestimate it – just with a more developed fashion sense. The rhythms get a bit predictable and stale at times, killing off some of the ferocity, but, even so, most of the songs have no trouble standing out. The gloves are firmly on, but this fighter will still give you a concussion if you don’t keep your guard up.
Highlight: “Pig”
Cognizance – In Light, No Shape
Genre: Technical death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Much like on 2024’s “Phantazein”, which I needed a little time to let grow on me, “In Light, No Shape” is not the kind of tech death that slaps you in the face with its exuberance. Again, this is closer to melodeath and progressive death metal than the inhuman speed extremes of the likes of Archspire or The Zenith Passage. The rhythms are still complicated, but in a way that makes the average listener more able to appreciate the thinking behind it.
While it feels more organic and approachable, it also feels a bit monochromatic in terms of mood, and it’s not the kind of album where you easily tell most of the tracks apart. Instead, you get moments as part of a cohesive listening experience that feels like you’re following the same agile beast on its exploratory way through the gloom. There are pauses and events along the way that provide spice and variation, but it’s all tackled with more or less the same demeanor. This is still a compelling and highly competent alternative to its more hyperactive subgenre peers, that rewards attention and multiple listens.
Highlight: “Witness Marks”
Creeping Flesh – God’s Acres Rife with Flesh Adorned
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: Creeping Flesh join the ranks of rumbling, crunchy Swedish death metal that feel like it’s got the power to wring the top off mountains. On this album they’re heading down a doomy path of crawling pace and hydraulic press momentum. It’s heavy as all hell, but also far from the most engaging of its sort.
Devenial Verdict – Old Blood – Fresh Wounds
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Finnish band Devenial Verdict are quickly becoming one of the most-reviewed bands here on The Metal Dispatch thanks to their steady release frequency and consistent quality. Each album so far has seen a slightly different iteration of the band, but the core ingredients of aggressive, meaty death metal still remain. Sticking to the bread and butter of the genre has never been enough for these guys, and on “Old Blood – Fresh Wounds” we get a kind of groove-centric, moderately progressive iteration of their style. The production is warm and massively full, like a colossal sand dune toppling over you.
The guys like to play around with dissonance, and while it’s still present, it feels scaled back in favor of head-on beastly heaviness and Gojira-like prog-groove techniques. There’s a bit less melody and overall variety than on 2024’s “Blessing of Despair”, but it makes up for it with a touch of death doom ominousness and a never-ending supply of earth-shaking riffs.
Highlights: “Elysium” and “The Corinthian”
In Malice’s Wake – The Profound Darkness
Genre: Thrash/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Sometimes you just want your thrash metal to grow spikes out of its spine and rip your head off. Australian band In Malice’s Wake do indeed sound like there’s been some underworldly soul bargaining going on during the recording process. “The Profound Darkness” plays very much like regular mid-to-high-tempo thrash metal, but there’s a raging hellfire burning underneath it all. Every part of the performances has an extra level of infernal muscle behind it, raising the threat level far beyond your average shred fest.
This thing is all menace, almost like it delights in it. A fair bit of the time, that means it loses sight of the pedal-to-the-metal fun factor that is so important for thrash to feel vital. Instead you get growling, hellhound bloodthirst that does occasionally explode into a focused frenzy, looking to devour you with one of several snapping maws.
Highlight: “By Tongues of Demons”
Lair Of The Minotaur – I Hail I
Genre: Sludge/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: How about some Black Label Society-like doomy groove mixed with sludge hostility and crunchy thrash riffs? On “I Hail I”, Lair Of The Minotaur take on the mentality of classic Swedish death metal in their mix of pleasing, riff-driven badassery with skull-collecting monstrous malice.
It’s not what you would call a dynamic record, with many of the songs sticking to the same riff-and-rhythm formula throughout their runtime. But the uncompromising, near-industrial heaviness and locked-in, murderous mood hit you so square in the face that you’re left with lasting imprints of the song identities whether you like it or not. It’s an album that forces you to dig it through sheer force.
Highlight: “Prowler Twin SIster”
Spell – Wretched Heart
Genre: Heavy/gothic metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: Reviewing Spell’s 2022 release “Tragic Magic” I likened their sound to that of early Ghost, and I’ll repeat that sentiment for “Wretched Heart”. What truly sets them apart is their gothic-romantic approach to melody and synth-powered atmosphere, with more than a few nods to cheeky glam ballads. They cover it with a light layer of tomb flower morbidity and mostly stay within a classic, slow-tempo heavy metal instrumental realm, which produces some delicious solos and driving riffs.
The energy you get from this iteration of Spell is all costumed charm and no heft. In fact, the whole thing feels rather feeble. But the delicate frailness is part of the album’s character. It’s the kind of sound you absorb for the vampiric, mansion-dwelling daydream factor. And it delivers this immersion almost impeccably.
Highlights: “Unquiet Graves” and “Wretched Heart”
Venom – Into Oblivion
Genre: Blackened speed/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Review: Here’s the one half of Venom that got to keep the unaltered band name, back with more unholiness forty-five years after the legendary debut album “Welcome To Hell”. In this day and age, what you’re getting is a kind of darkened heavy/speed metal with steadfast rhythms and the kind of “metal is religion” approach to lyrics that you’d expect from a band that’s looking nowhere but backwards. Yes, there are a few pretty cool riffs and solos on here, but for the most part it’s a fairly stiff and lukewarm affair with a wooly production.
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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