Reviews of metal albums released October 24 – October 30
We’ve got both faithful reassurance, risk-taking and fresh surprises in store this final week of October.
Black Royal – Abyssian
Genre: Sludge/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: I had to check in with these guys because seeing their name I was immediately reminded of their 2022 album “Earthbound”, with its giant bear on the cover. It’s an album I’ve listened to several times since because it hit the spot between sludge, death and stoner in such a pleasing way to me. The same spirit is alive on “Abyssian”, but they’ve generally slowed things down and tweaked it with gothic-reminiscent moodiness. Unfortunately, going slower sort of deconstructs a lot of their riffs in a way that make them feel simple, and several sections end up rather repetitive. There’s more energetic, driving stuff on here as well, just not quite enough to keep me engaged throughout.
Highlight: “Suffocation”
Cirith Ungol – All The Shadows
Genre: Heavy/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: If this was a contest for standing out with the most distinct sound in the heavy/doom niche, Cirith Ungol would still be clear podium favorites, 55 years into their career. It hits you more or less the moment you put on seventh full-length “All the Shadows”, with Tim Baker’s demonic-eagle-scream vocals leading on and massively expanding on the muscle bound classic metal riffage and steady epic doom rhythms.
It’s a kind of sound that’s tempting to call bombastic, almost in the vein of Manowar, but there’s a grounded simplicity, paired with a dark fantasy theme and gloomy tone that gives it weight and stops it from filling up with hot air. There are moments on the album where the momentum dies off a bit and the vocals and instruments feel more disconnected than suits them, but the band remain true to their style and concept sounding almost refreshed, and miles away from fading into obscurity.
Highlight: “All The Shadows”
Cryptorium – Through The Bowels Of Ceaseless Dissonance
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: I’ll be honest: swedeath that goes heavy on the HM-2 distortion pedal (as perfected by Entombed) have a way of worming its way through a specially reserved, secret door to my cold metal heart. But the “sound” has to be followed up by the attitude, the production and, of course, the actual playing. This wasn’t quite the case with Cryptorium’s 2024 debut album “Descent Into Lunacy”, as it sounded like something recorded by accident through the studio wall while performed in the alley behind it. Major strides have been takes since then, though.
Their sophomore full-length is an absolute assault of crunch and hammering drums, like great chomping maws of hell consuming the surface above it at an infernal rate. There’s no real melody, but a tonal range that seems to borrow a fair deal from classic doom, which suits it. It loads on a bit too much noise and chunkiness for its own good at times, and it’s not what you’d call revolutionary, but if you’re into the style you’ll likely gulp it down ravenously – bowels and all.
Highlights: “Malodor” and “Revolting Obsession”
Darkest Hour – Suffer Divine
Genre: Metalcore/melodic death/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Darkest Hour is one of those bands that, even with me being the type of person who defends and even encourages bands to evolve their sound so as not to grow stale, I kind of just want to take me back to the same sonic space on every new release. Born out of the melding of melodeath and hardcore of the 90s, they’re pioneers of that early aggressive-yet-melodic metalcore sound, before it started to morph into emo and pop territory.
On this, their 11th full-length, they bring pretty much all of their stylistic influences to bear. Perhaps not in the most cohesive way imaginable, but also not in a way that feels like a disorganized sampler pack. There’s At The Gates-like melodeath, crossover thrash and metallic hardcore. It’s fast, precise and angry, just the way you want it. Completely devoid of clean vocals, and mostly avoiding big dips in energy output. It’s not without a few anthemic tendencies and fairly typical choruses, but as a fan I don’t mind a limited amount of that coming with the territory.
Highlight: “Gods of Decay” and “Everyday Horrors”
Dream Unending – Certain Uncertainties
Genre: Avant-garde doom/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: If these sounds came to you from the deep desert, carried on the dry winds, would you follow them to their source? What’s in store is a mildly psychedelic trip of classic death doom meets desert rock and blues, with more than half of it going on benevolent instrumental tangents. It’s got no formula at all, so I wouldn’t advise going in with any particular expectations. For my taste a few too many of the rhythms are start/stop, and I can’t quite make some of the more atonal elements fit, but I think that if you give it some time it will blossom like a cactus flower.
Highlight: “Strained Sincerity”
Enslaved – Mið
Genre: Progressive black/folk metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: With Enslaved, at this point I feel utterly confident going in to a new album of theirs expecting it to be nothing short of magnificent. Yes, I realize that this is a dangerously high bar to set, but they’re one of the very few bands around that just keeps ageing like fine wine and, if not outdoing themselves every single time, at least evolving in a way that shows utter dedication to, and interest in, exploratory songwriting, while never fully abandoning their roots.
Like on 2020’s “Utgard”, “Mið” feels to a certain extent like a cosmic journey, with nods to spacey 70s prog rock, but it’s less overt this time and more of a vibe. The album starts in fairly traditional Enslaved blackened fashion, and then departs the expected step by step, culminating with the heavily Native American-leaning “Spirit Helper”. It ends up a deeply melodic and atmospheric album where the heaviness goes hand in hand with ambitious scope, that still manages to stay grounded thanks to outstanding instrumentation. It’s not quite black metal, not pure prog or folk metal. It’s Enslaved. It doesn’t quite reach some of the most awe-inspiring highs of their career, but it’s brave, considered and fresh in a uniquely recognizable fashion.
Highlights: “Solar Will” and “Parting”
Master Boot Record – Computer Metal
Genre: Electronic/industrial metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: I feel like I need to be in a particular mood to fully enjoy instrumental metal in general, but Master Boot Record has a way of coaxing out that mood within seconds of me playing any given song of theirs. This is likely largely due to Victor Love’s uncanny melodic affinity. The songs tend to go on insane solo melody tangents that has me getting weak in the knees in reverence of the sheer vibrancy.
A lot of that is thankfully still present on “Computer Metal”, but the news this time around is that more than ever before of it is… analog. In fact, there’s more actual instrumental use on the album than I thought was compatible with the concept, which might divide opinions. It’s also a tad heavier than what I’ve gotten used to from them, though still very much neoclassical in style, but also inviting in a few “core”- and slam-style rhythms here and there. It’s not as outstandingly creative as 2024’s “Hardwarez”, but then that was a genuine masterpiece, and it’s still plenty adventurous and fun.
Highlights: “PLUG AND PLAY” and “DOT MATRIX”
Ministry – Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery)
Genre: Industrial metal/rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Review: Time to say goodbye to another legend of the metal world. Al Jourgensen and Ministry are calling it a day, and going out focused on the message behind the music, which has been a defining trait all along. “Hate To Go” is full of voice samples and undisguised political statements, set to stripped-down, riff-forward heavy industrial rock. It’s not conceptual, or complex, or inventive. It’s distilled Ministry, and not really more or less than that.
Highlight: “Singularity”
Sarcator – The Ones We Follow
Genre: Black ‘n’ roll
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: Is black metal going western gonna be like… a thing? I’m not exactly a scholar on the subject, but these last few months is the first time I’ve noticed it as a recurring phenomenon. And while some have used it as a subtle influence, Sweden’s young black thrashers Sarcator have dived in horns first. Where last year’s “Swarming Angels & Flies” was a snarling, ferocious beast that was constantly on the attack, “The Ones We Follow” is more of an opportunistic coyote by comparison.
It’s not really an overstatement that the band has drastically changed their sound since last time. The thrash relentlessness and beefy low end is all but gone, replaced with rock groove and western twang, though still with an obvious blackened edge. Something approaching fellow countrymen Witchery, although less heavy and more punky. I’m not against it at all, as it allows the band to show a completely different side of themselves – more melodic among other things. Unfortunately there are almost as many “alright” songs as there are highlights, which makes it difficult to defend the 50min+ runtime. Fun, daring, if a bit unfocused.
Highlights: “In Search of Oblivion” and “The Ones We Follow”
Vigil – Primordial Rites
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Review: Did you go into this week hoping to get your ass kicked, and it never sort of happened? Then you probably didn’t catch Vigil’s debut album “Primordial Rites”. This is the nastiest, snarliest, most bloodthirsty thrash I’ve possibly heard all year, only really contested by Skulld’s “Abyss Calls to Abyss” back in January, and that’s definitely death thrash.
The band go straight from the throat and sum up the totality of what they’re about within the first minute of the album – flesh ripping riffs, furious vocals and a vicious, blackened-death-reminiscent tonality – and yet they continue to both impress and massively entertain for the remaining 38 or so minutes. Speed and precision is matched by a punchy low-end – it feels perfectly fit for candle-lit, claustrophobic, underground bunker shows, without sacrificing impact. There’s tons of evil groove and demented solos, some of which are a bit coarse, but that’s okay. It’s not a reinvention of anything, but goddamn does it revel in its demonic bad-assery.
Highlights: “Blood Dust” and “At the Stake”
Xentrix – Allied With The Enemy
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Review: This gang of veteran British thrashers have been going on and off since 1988, with a huge release gap between 1996 and 2019, but now seem to have hit their stride in this modern era of the band. 2022’s “Seven Words” was a thrash highlight of that year for me, and the same attitude and style is rekindled on “Allied with the Enemy”.
Led by Chuck Billy (Testament)-reminiscent barks and deadly barrages of riffs interspersed with wicked solos, the album presents a vision of apocalyptic dystopia, that might very well already be happening. The balance of bitter-tinged melody and aggression is done very well. I’m tempted to question the production, as the guitars feel a bit muddled and buried in the mix for my taste, and I’m missing the memorability of the previous album’s highlight tracks. However, this very much feels like a band that still mean business.
Highlight: “Allied with the Enemy”
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?
