Reviews of metal albums released September 19 – September 25
This week, with a few notable exceptions, is all about carnage, destruction and overpowering heaviness. Wear something tear resistant.
Barren – Verderf
Genre: Grindcore/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: If you seek the cathartic feeling of ripping something to pieces, but don’t have anything suitable handy, then this will provide the sonic equivalent. Barren are a Belgian band combining the ferocity of grindcore with the merciless crush of death metal. There are elements of both the crusty old school and bass-booming modernity, with bestial vocals and rhythms often at mid-tempo. Even at a sub-19 minute runtime, the album does feel like it’s repeating itself ever so slightly now and then, and it’s not exactly a beacon of originality, but both in terms of energy, production and performances, this is top notch.
Highlight: “Abase”
BRAT – Manslayer
Genre: Hardcore/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: BRAT are back to split some skulls, burst some eardrums and stomp a few holes in the floor while they’re at it. The first thing you need to know is that “Manslayer” represents a slight change of course since 2024’s “Social Grace”. Gone is a significant amount of the grindcore relentlessness – replaced with hardcore scuffle-rhythms and a bit of the dissonance and breakdown focus of slamming brutal death metal.
The good news (if you don’t consider the previously mentioned news to be good) is that the attitude is still very much intact. Even with a fuller, more well-defined production and longer runtime, the album feels ragged and constantly in your face, just as it should be. My main issue is that it seems unhurried, which makes certain parts feel repetitive, almost pedestrian. There are several highlights, but also a fair number of songs that never really go anywhere. Well worth a listen, if ever so slightly trend-chasing, although certainly not unimaginative or safe.
Highlight: “Speculum Bleed”
Burner – No One Is Coming To Save Us
Genre: Metalcore/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: Last week, England was showing off some of the finest of its doom heritage, and now it’s time for a convergence of its distinct metalcore and death metal scenes. Those thinking that modern metalcore has lost all of its savage edge need to give Burner a serious chance, as they pair metallic hardcore and deathcore with both classic, melodic and technical death metal, not miles away from fellow countrymen Sylosis (who make a fitting guest appearance on the album).
To say that the result is hard-hitting is an understatement. While there are melodic and emotional tendencies, as is only befitting the bleakly existentialist themes, the main impression is of crashing riffs and thundering, razor-precise rhythm work, with throat-rending vocals. For my taste it’s a bit too severe, uniform and unsurprising, but for those sold on the style it’s both technically impressive and compellingly fervent.
Highlights: “Blood River” and “Accelerationist”
Cloven Hoof – Never A Prophet In Your Own Land
Genre: Heavy/power metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Cloven Hoof were late to the NWOBHM party, and didn’t make it further than 1990 before splitting up. They reformed in 2001 and have been through numerous lineup changes since then, although releasing a number of albums. This is only the second instance of me devoting any significant time to them, and I wasn’t expecting much. Most of that original wave of trad-metallers are running on the mere whiff of fumes creativity-wise these days.
Consider me surprised then, when I find the band’s 11th album to be loaded with charm and melodic playfulness – not simply rehashing a style of yesteryear, but actually having fun with it. The Deep Purple-esque use of the organ is a particularly nice touch. It sounds vital and cool, if not particularly full or punchy. A little short on energy, but just the right amount of bravado.
Highlight: “Never A Prophet”
Critical Defiance – Rivers of Blood
Genre: Thrash/black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: “Visceral” is the first word I can think to use to describe Chilean band Critical Defiance’s brand of ultra-aggressive thrash metal. It takes cues from old school Slayer, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I also hear bands like Gorgoroth at their most teeth-baring, with intensity pushing all the way into war metal at times. But in addition to being very furious, it’s also very fast, and loaded with savage riffage and dive-bombing solos.
Interestingly, the fury is balanced out by traditional, acoustic melody, but not in any elegant or sophisticated way. It’s kind of just thrown in there. Some of it works well, while some of it feels misplaced, at least to me. The production isn’t great, and structurally the whole thing feels kind of distracted – pulling in this direction and that without really fully accomplishing any one thing. If you’re looking for an album that’ll tear apart anything in its path though, this will certainly do the job
Highlight: “Agonal Shining”
Crown Magnetar – The Hollowing Of Godlesh
Genre: Deathcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: If any of the heavy releases this week deserves to be likened to an all-devouring monstrosity, this is surely the one. A lot of thought and effort seem to have gone into making Crown Magnetar’s third full-length feel imposing above all else. And one of the smartest moves they’ve made in order to achieve this is steer clear of many of the tropes of modern brutal death metal – the ones that even the fanbase would describe as silly, or at least over the top.
Don’t get me wrong, this rightfully earns being tagged as brutal-style deathcore, with djenty guitars, bass booms, and every song leading into a massive breakdown. But they manage to worm in some actually sinister atmosphere, and the vocals are low and bestial rather than squealy (at least most of the time), and the technicality of the thing feels like being mercilessly dismantled by a house-sized, out-of-control assembly line robot. I personally find it too hard to tell many of the tracks apart and am left slightly numb by the lack of dynamics, but if you’re looking for actually heavy, aggressive and well-crafted deathcore, this is the stuff for you.
Highlights: “Shut Up and Bleed” and “Desecrate Infinite”
Godflesh – Decay
Genre: Industrial/experimental metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: Many a thing can be said about this album, but I’ll keep it fairly brief, because it needs to be experienced in order to get any proper idea of what it’s actually about, and I feel like most of the descriptions I can come up with will sound pretentious once the thing has taken a hold of you. If you’re not familiar with Godflesh, then know that they play a dark, doom-oriented and experimental form of industrial metal. Nothing at all like Rammstein, and still not really close to bands like Ministry.
The album feels like a living entity with a corrupted, artificial mind. It doesn’t go haywire, but steadily and calculatingly plots our collective downfall. You’re meant to be pulled in and overtaken by despair. For me personally it doesn’t do this quite as effectively as some of the best death- or blackened doom out there, but if the more pitiless parts of reality terrifies you, you will be this album’s preferred victim.
Highlights: “Consume Me” and “Feral Colony”
Hænesy – Esentia
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Hænesy are a Hungarian band playing sweeping, atmospheric black metal where the harshness gets understated in favor of horizon-gazing melodies. The vocals in particular feel like whispers on the wind, and the violence of the instruments are like the distant clamor of a storm taking place far out on the ocean, the visual spectacle of which dominates the entire skyline. Esentia is an album to get deeply lost in – more serene than anything else, but not without some force behind it as well. To me it’s not distinctly different to other projects of similar tonality, and a bit too intangible for me to get a good grasp on. But the immersion is great, and it’s a pleasant soak for you mind.
Highlight: “The Glimmering Expanse”
Lacrimas Profundere – Lay Me Down O Silent Fear
Genre: Gothic metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: German sad-romantic goths Lacrimas Profundere are back and pulling out a number of tricks in order to create a sound that feels both cinematic, symphonic, all-enveloping and engaging both in front of the stage and pulsing out of your headphones. The production, as well as the mix of bombastic loftiness and hard rock catchiness, all work towards achieving this, and the clearly Finnish-inspired melodic heaviness doesn’t hurt. But in terms of writing, hooks and overall feel, especially for the choruses, this is like the absolute least inspired material of Stone Sour and Insomnium mashed together. Not terrible, but nothing special.
Massteron – Second In The Spheres
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: This Polish project falls somewhere in between the unpolished fun of blackened thrash and the diabolic danger of muddled blackened death metal. Let’s jut get it over with at the start: The production on “Second In The Spheres” is pretty crap. Parts of it definitely sound like they were recorded live at a grungy basement show, but I suspect that it’s at least partially intentional, and mostly work pretty well for what it is. It’s full of wild riffs and solos, with some actual depth to the melodies, and an infectiously enthusiastic, underground-unholy mood.
Highlight: “Strife Eternal”
Noctule – Extinguish Thy Flame
Genre: Melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Elden Ring has inspired its fair share of recent releases, and why not? Particularly for the epic-melodic and aggressive-virtuoso kind of sound of ex-Svalbard vocalist/guitarist Serena Cherry’s one-woman project Noctule, it’s just the right kind of over-the-top, darkly fantastical yet reality-inspired universe. It’s definitely nerdy, but not silly, and even concept-outsiders like me should be easily susceptible to its immersion factor.
If you like a band like Volcandra, then this should be right up your alley. It tends to get a little too lost in its own melodic tangents, and feels perhaps overly symphonic-bombastic at times, in a way that steals away some of its character. It’s a little short on great riffs, but the vocals and lead guitar work are top notch and genuine highlights of the experience, and confidently lead you through the grim adventure.
Highlight: “Devour the Gods”
The Ocean – Solaris
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: One or two things have happened in The Ocean (Collective) since 2023’s “Holocene”. Apart from main man Robin Staps and bassist Mattias Hägerstrand, every member has been replaced, and there are now two vocalists, allowing for a male/female dynamic that serves the storytelling aspect of the album surprisingly well. Surprising no one familiar with the band, this is long-form progressive metal that demands your attention and does nothing on the short term.
The intensity of the album ebbs and flows, but doesn’t reach a peak until about halfway into the experience, so if you’re looking for instant gratification, this is certainly not the record (or band) for you. I’d say it takes a bit long regardless, and I find my attention waning during the course of 17+ minute “Simulacra”, but that does allow next track “Belligerence” to hit all the harder. Both the instrumental and vocal performances are stellar. Some of it takes a bit getting used to, and some of it reminds me a lot of the multi-vocal approach of Mastodon, almost distractingly so. But the vocal ranges are great, and really helps the album expand and contract. While there are lots of news, it doesn’t feel like a daring project for the band, but it lingers and evolves the more you listen to it.
Highlights: “Ultima Esperanza” and “Light Pollution”
Tombstalker – Chaos Monolith
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Considering how well death metal matches up stylistically with the forces of Chaos in the Warhammer 40.000 universe, I’m a bit surprised that there aren’t more bands taking that thematic route. Well, Tombstalker are certainly here to do their part in filling that gap. Loaded up with Bolt Thrower violence and old school Swedeath crunch, they set out to corrupt, slaughter and burn.
This is in no way a “neat” death metal record, but to me that’s part of the appeal. It squeals and crashes, creaks, howls, twists and turns. There’s heft, but it could probably be even beefier, and I’d welcome even more groove. But the aggression, eagerness and variety keeps things relatively unpredictable and entertaining all the way through. And if you’re a 40K fan, you’ll dig all the references, as well as appreciate the hell out of the radiating appetite for pure havoc.
Highlights: “Penitent Engine” and “Inexorable Slaughter”
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?
