Reviews of metal albums released October 03 – October 09
Anger is the word of the week, delivered in the service of comedy, shock, authenticity and utter devastation.
Dawn Of Demise – Feed My Absurdity
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: The bread-and-butter approach doesn’t work with all subgenres of metal, and very rarely will it produce anything that stays with you for much longer than its own runtime. Danish band Dawn of Demise just want to play riff-based death metal, and it’s evident from the very first note on this, their sixth full-length. It’s coarse, it’s morbid, it’s a mutant abomination thrashing and charging around its musty cave system. It’s nothing new and a little repetitive at times, but it’s both decently varied and refreshingly fast-paced, and clearly crafted from a point of deep appreciation for the style. If you like death metal for what it is at its core, then you’ll dig this.
Highlight: “Ominous”
Esoctrilihum – Annochiül Xar Sorthïlazur
Genre: Avant-garde black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: The phenomenal cover art is what initially drew me to this album, then realizing it’s no less than the sixteenth full-length release by this French solo project since starting out in 2016. That immediately has me skeptical from the get-go, but the massive opening track of the album reawakens my fascination. Experimental albums like this will inevitably have its ups and downs, and the symphonic nature of this is perhaps its greatest strength. It sounds like an orchestra made up of equal parts angels and demons, then played in an open amphitheater floating in the clouds of a storm system. It’s wild and fairly unpredictable, with tons of different layers, but somehow doesn’t really move on too much from where it sets off. Also, the quasi-operatic falsetto vocals will inevitably prove divisive.
HateSphere – Guillotine
Genre: Groove/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: For me, it’s difficult to wrong with a combo of old school melodic death, groove- and thrash metal, and that’s still what we’re getting on Danish long-going band HateSphere’s 12th full-length. Which of the three styles that gets to dominate varies from track to track, and depending on your preferences that will likely dictate your pick of favorites. I would have liked to see even more ferocity out of the guys, as they don’t seem to know quite what to do with the slower, more sinister sections of the album, of which there are quite a few. The rhythms get a bit too predictable, and the playing in general too simplistic. Otherwise, there’s lots of treats to be had in the form of savage vocals, ripping riffs and At the Gates-like melody.
Highlight: “Dogma”
Left To Suffer – Unwelcome Guest
Genre: Deathcore/nu metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: I’m not really familiar with Left to Suffer, so I don’t know how much they’ve flirted with nu metal in the past, but on “Unwelcome Guest” we’re getting the harsh-rapping of early Slipknot, the turntable scratching of Linkin Park and more than a just few cues from Korn. including riff- and vocal style, at least partially. Fused to the core style of percussive deathcore, it produces a surprisingly playful (although ridiculously low-end-heavy) result that knows how to use both groove and atmosphere, although sparingly. There’s still too many well-used tropes on it for my taste, but it elevates itself above a lot of more straightforward projects in the same sphere with its variety and lack of pretentiousness.
Highlight: “STFU”
Leper Colony – Back To Primal Sludge
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: Time to top up the already overflowing bucket of Rogga Johansson-signature death metal (even though, according to Spotify, he seems to be trying to hide behind the pseudonym “Roger”). It’s got most of the things you want in an Obituary album, with some Swedish groove and crustiness added. It gets a mention because it’s reliably satisfying with a few highlights, although it suffers from an abundance of unimaginative filler.
Netherwilds – Peasant Rising
Genre: Avant-garde alternative metal/blackened hardcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5
Review: Did you ever wonder what would happen if the two mud-hacking peasants in Monty Python and the Holy Grail got their own subplot, involving them staging a revolt? You didn’t? Well, this could (and should) be the musical iteration of that story. Trying to nail down the style of this project is pure folly, as the concept is far more important than what subgenres are involved. There’s lots of hardcore, a good deal of nu- and alternative metal, some folk (naturally) and a blackened edge to some of it. But none of that’s really important.
This is very clearly a humorous project, but as with Monty Python there are hidden messages and clever, episodic storytelling of wildly varying flavor. There’s introspection, rebellious stomping, bonfire partying, confused bumbling, and also plenty of straightforward riffs, screams and groove. There’s also a lot of silly interludes with amateurishly performed, themed dialogue, which will likely get quite tiresome on repeat listens, and to me there are a few too many holes in the album’s energy output. That aside, this is a supremely creative effort that’s extremely dedicated to the bit. It makes for one of the most outstanding albums in the last few years, that’s also a treat to listen to.
Highlights: “Siege Proof Hovel” and “Heretic”
Ram – Against
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: Back after a seven year release break, Sweden’s Ram are back to headbutt you off your pedestal where you’re standing, nose raised at classic heavy metal. Take Judas Priest, Accept and WA.S.P., mix them all up in a witch’s cauldron full of skulls, ink and graveyard earth, and imagine what you’d like that to sound like now in 2026. Never mind, I’ll just tell you: You’d want it to sound like this.
Ram need no harsh vocals, frantic blast beats, tremolo or grungy production to sound sinister. And even as they succeed at it pretty much just with melodic tone and vocal character, they also have no interest in being a downer. The drums are Motörhead-level eager, the solos are soaring, and every now and then you get a bit of Mötley Crüe swagger or Iron Maiden epicness. This album brings together so much of what made non-extreme metal great in the 70s and 80s, and the band manages to make it completely their own.
Highlights: “Abattoir” and “Out of Control”
Smoulder – Witch Wife In An Alien World
Genre: Doom/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: This is an album that I wanted to love before hearing it, and still want to love in hindsight. The band’s attitude to art and creativity, their previous albums, the mind blowing album art – it all speaks in their favor. But the execution just doesn’t do it for me. The (intentionally) off-kilter (and off-key) vocal style is front and center, the rhythms are fairly plodding, and the pace just feels lackluster. I want to applaud them for taking some risks and making something that doesn’t quite sound like anything else. There’s a lot of fun things going on, but too few of them seem chosen because they actually serve the progression, and too many because they’re just cool and bold things to do on an album.
Werewolves – You’re Weak and You Know You’re Weak
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: When are these mad lycanthropes ever gonna run out of steam? At least not until 2030, according to their mission statement of releasing ten albums in ten years. There’s metal out there that’s all about conceptual depth, complex structures and gradual buildups. And then there’s bands like this, who pistol-butt whips you in the face in place of an introduction, and then proceeds to chase you around with a machete non-stop for a little over half an hour (yes, I take some inspiration from the album cover).
On a casual listen, there’s quite a lot of carry-over from the band’s other albums, and it might get tempting to jump to the conclusion that they aren’t interested in evolving their sound even a little bit. Style-wise I might agree that not a lot has changed, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t trying new things. The vocals are more varied than ever, as is the guitar tone, and there are subtle influences in riff style scattered throughout. The blackened grindcore energy is particularly strong this time around. It’s super tight and relentlessly technical, and yet this might be their most bestial-sounding work to date, without resorting to production tricks, breakdowns or incomprehensible gurgles. As long as they keep sounding as vital, spiteful and boundlessly aggressive as this, I will happily sing their praises.
Highlights: “Fields of Suicide” and “Uroboric Fuckwit”
Wolfbrigade – Howl from Underground
Genre: Crust punk/blackened thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: What’s this, the week of the wolf? You won’t find me complaining. Swedish thrashy crust punkers Woldbrigade are back after 2024’s “Life Knife Death”, which was one of my favorite albums of that year. And whether you’ll prefer this new one to its predecessor will depend entirely on what you perceive as the “proper” style for the band.
Three of the main reasons why I liked the last album so much were its untamed aggression, its death-crunchy riffs, and its sinister melodic tendencies. All of those things have been scaled back on “Howl from Underground” in favor of putting the punky relentlessness front and center. And I’m not saying that’s bad at all. The guys excel at it, and the thrash is very much still there, with its ferocious speed and satisfying groove. It’s still dark, and it still feels kind of forbidden and authentic as fuck, which makes it worthy of its title.
Highlights: “Doomrunner” and “Fat Man Hellscape”
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?
