-
Weekly rundown June 30 – 2023
The fire and fury dies down a bit this week, to allow some time for reflection and new ideas to sprout, from gloomy and vibrant sources alike.
Avdagata – The Faceless One
Genre: Melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5A burst of technical black metal that draws its melodic inspiration from east of the norm, without truly standing out beyond the instrumental performances.
Before The Dawn – Stormbringers
Genre: Melodic death/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Melodeath built up with rudimentary rhythms and predictable melodies, although topped off by a not-insignificant dash of Finnish epicness.
Calico Jack – Isla de la Muerte
Genre: Power/folk metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5This is Italian pirate metal with an emphasis on the folk influences. It could do with some maturing, but will definitely appeal to both the comic- and epic-loving part of the fan spectrum.
Coffin Mulch – Spectral Intercession
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Rough and musty old school death metal with an undead hardcore drive that allows it to separate from the cemetery pack.
Death Ray Vision – No Mercy From Electric Eyes
Genre: Hardcore/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Thrashy hardcore with plenty of riff goodness that brings to mind the grittier, rock n’ roll side of Avenged Sevenfold, although consistently keeping it a step more punk. It does, however, tend towards the anthemic more than is probably healthy.
East Of The Wall – A Neutral Second
Genre: Progressive/avant-garde metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5A moody and cool progressive album with elements of sludge, a bit of doom and traces of grunge. Retro-synthetic, sometimes disharmonic melodic elements keeps it interesting beyond the expected instrumental haphazardness, and odd rhythms work as a sort of structure as the music shifts from different tonal landscapes.
Eiter – Gewalt
Genre: Grindcore/black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Why not introduce a bit of groove to a blackened grindcore album? It ups the fun factor without compromising the aggression.
Grafvitnir – Into The Outer Wilderness
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Like death’s whisper on the wind, this is skeletal, snarly black metal building up to strongly realized Scandinavian folk atmosphere.
Khanate – To Be Cruel
Genre: Drone/doom metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Screeching, spoken-word vocals intermittently interrupt this near-standstill crawl through a melting, collapsing apocalypse of a soundscape.
Melted Bodies – The Inevitable Fork Vol. 2
Genre: Experimental metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Unhinged alternative metal that mostly defies all genre conventions. Lots of energy, completely devoid of focus, and bravely exploratory.
Night Legion – Fight Or Fall
Genre: Power/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Shred-happy power metal about… death and disaster? It sure doesn’t sound like that, more like amped up classic heavy metal.
None – Inevitable
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5If you’ve ever struggled with dark thoughts and a destructive mentality, this is music that will speak to you. The album title fittingly alludes to the feeling of surrender in the face of forces beyond your control, which is chillingly recreated in the melodic atmosphere on here. And there’s a sort of comfort in the recognition of this mental state that is both cathartic and unsettling. The washed out, icy guitars and hissing vocals expertly complements the rest.
Highlights: “Never Came Home” and “A Reason to Be”.
Orelisk – The Underworld Obscura
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5A wailing theater of horror, this is musty black metal uncovered from the collapsed basement of a haunted house.
Raven – All Hell’s Breaking Loose
Genre: Heavy/speed metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Bringing the sensibilities of heavy metal-meets-thrash-for-the-first-time back from the 70s/80s, with all of its speedy enthusiasm (fantastic drum work on this one) and dated quirks (falsetto vocals…).
Serpent Of Old – Ensemble Under The Dark Sun
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is blackened death metal leaning into crushing doom, yet never quite content to slither about in the same space for too long, allowing prog-inspired fluctuations in the rhythm to lead the way in and out of the abyss. It’s devastatingly heavy, with a bleakness to the tone, yet pulsing with a fury that could crack bedrock.
Highlights: “Unsaturated Hunger and Esoteric Lust” and “From the Impending Dusk”.
Static Abyss – Aborted from Reality
Genre: Death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A batch of not-too-serious doomy death metal filth that invokes feelings of abyssal horror, but also drunken underground stop fests.
Thornafire – Leprosario Lazareto
Genre: Technical death/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A rather fresh take on thrash/groove-flavored death metal, with a local flavor to the (semi)melodic approach, and some light instrumental experimentation.
Virgin Steele – The Passion Of Dionysus
Genre: Heavy/power metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A quirkily produced, tale-telling piece of romantic, theatrical heavy metal. It’s not bombastic or cheesy, although not exactly restrained either, with a subtle progressive approach that clearly distinguishes this from most of its peers.
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, do feel free to express yourself in the comments section below.
-
Weekly rundown June 23 – 2023
A week showcasing the versatility of dark metal, in its ability to kick your door in, set your blood ablaze or thoroughly warp your mind.
The Anchoret – It All Began With Loneliness
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Sax-o-licious, light on its feet and not sacrificing tonal consistency for instrumental playfulness, this is an adventurous prog metal release that will brighten your day. Certain sections dip into semi-retro prog rock, so don’t expect every song to deliver the same amount of punch, but it makes for a varied and flavorful listen, from a band that sounds confident in their style, and has the obvious talent to back it up.
Highlights: “Forsaken” and “All Turns to Clay”.
Crepitation – Monstrous Eruption Of Impetuous Preposterosity
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Brutal death metal in its most parodic-and-I-know-it form, which means lots of vulgar fun and an absolute musical murder carnival.
Degrees Of Truth – Alchemists
Genre: Symphonic metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Offering up divine vocals and heavenly melodies, this is symphonic metal with enough instincts to veer off the formula that it stands out from the crowd.
High Priest – Invocation
Genre: Doom/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A cosmic-flavored take on melodic, classic doom that showcases a distinct vocal talent and the band’s proficiency for balancing eagerness and restraint for a full, engaging sound.
Jag Panzer – The Hallowed
Genre: Heavy/power metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Solo-happy heavy metal that borrows a fair bit of flair from its more epic cousin, and takes us on a lofty journey of defiant struggle.
Krigsgrav – Fires in the Fall
Genre: Melodic black/death metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Take the expansive and aggressive nature of melodic black metal, replace some of the coldness with the more patient and solemn tone of doom and up the impact with some melodeath riffs, and you’re honing in on the formula behind this album. And yet the result is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. It feels grand in a grim and darkly prophetic way, and flows at an organic pace that showcases the band’s aptitude for atmosphere as much as rushes of controlled fury.
Highlights: “Shadowlands” and “In Seas of Perdition”.
Mental Cruelty – Zwielicht
Genre: Deathcore/melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Infused with theatrical grandeur and pulling out every modern deathcore trick in the book, this is a successful brutality upgrade to melodic-to symphonic black metal.
Miserere Luminis – Ordalie
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Mournful melody takes front and center on this, and weaves well together with a grief-stricken, slightly atypical approach to black metal.
Perracide – Underdog
Genre: Death/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A band that doesn’t seem sure whether they want to be thrash or death metal, as emphasis on either switches rather heavily from song to song, although they’re at their best when the two styles meld.
Persekutor – Snow Business
Genre: Heavy/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Old school heavy metal clad in black, yet still urging you to your feet with your hands in the air. The rock n’ roll is strong with this one..
Phantom Corporation – Fallout
Genre: Hardcore/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5While the rhythms on here are about as predictable as they come within hardcore, the drive is excellent, and you’re treated to an absolute riff galore if you stay on for the whole ride.
Pyramaze – Bloodlines
Genre: Power/pop metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Anthem-seeking, modernized power metal with Michael Bolton vibes.
Sculforge – Intergalactic Battle Tunes
Genre: Heavy/power metal
Subjective rating: 1/5
Objective rating: 1.5/5Less than stellar, speedy power metal thematically ripping off Warhammer 40K in ultra cringe-worthy fashion.
Seek – Kokyou De Shinu Otoko
Genre: Black metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5When you hear this level of resolve in blackened metal, you don’t need stabbing melodies or raging riffs to grab your attention. Especially the vocals emit an undeniable fervor, and the heavy, industrial drum work fully backs it up. There’s a lot of pain and anger in the violent yet nuanced atmosphere of this thing, and the level of hardcore harshness applied to it makes the message seem all the more urgent.
Soul Grinder – Filth Encrusted
Genre: Thrash/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Simple thrash metal bot in terms of performance and production, offering some heavy, mid-tempo groove.
Structural – Decrowned
Genre: Melodic/technical death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Modern, technical and sort of prog-melodic death metal that makes up for a slight lack of brutality with precision and tenacity.
Tsjuder – Helvegr
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is that traditional, 90s wave of Norwegian black metal in all but actual musical approach. Sure, it’s still been produced to sound grim and frigid, but the adherence to technical precision goes far beyond its origins. It sounds like the controlled fury of a modern army assault in the form of an orchestra, with the specific purpose of getting your blood boiling.
Highlights: “Prestehammeren” and “Surtr”.
Vexed – Negative Energy
Genre: Deathcore/nu metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5If you want to get analytical about it, this sounds like djent-deathcore with the straightforward mono-aggression of hardcore, rhythm approach of hiphop-heavy nu metal and melodic sensibilities of metalcore. But don’t let all this fool you into thinking that it sounds like a mishmash. The term “nu-core” actually covers it quite well. It’s sharply honed and consistent stuff, and, unlike many of its ilk, quite mature-sounding.
Xasthur – Inevitably Dark
Genre: Experimental black/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Ready for a near 2 hour journey that sounds like the grim reaper inviting you along for an acid trip? There’s a varied host of different personalities to this music – all of them doom-laden to a certain extent, and all put together it makes for a markedly disturbing whole. You get noisy black metal, dark folk and lots of ambience, most of which with a undeniably nightmarish quality to it.
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, do feel free to express yourself in the comments section below.
-
Weekly rundown June 16 – 2023
This is a “quality not quantity” week with a few exceptionally strong releases across the spectrum, although with a surprising emphasis on stoner.
Church Of Misery – Born Under A Mad Sign
Genre: Doom/stoner metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Fuzz-tone to the bone. Church of Misery takes that Paranoid-era Sabbath sound, adds a bit of Lemmy-ish rusty charm and then trusts in the artistic integrity of its members to add the necessary signature character on top of that (which they certainly do). It’s bluesy, groovy, even a bit grungy, and feels 100% genuine. A stellar doom/stoner release with a killer theme (pardon the pun).
Highlights: “Beltway Sniper (John Allen Muhammad)” and “Freeway Madness Boogie (Randy Kraft)”
Creeping Death – Boundless Domain
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is death metal so crisp and sharply honed that your can practically feel it carving unimpeded through layer upon layer of flesh. It’s right on the edge, peering over the borders of thrash and groove, without really crossing over, but perhaps picking up a whiff of an influence here and there. A little more speed, a little more flair, but apart from that this is snarling, bared-teeth death metal with the killer instinct to back it up.
Highlights: “Vitrified Earth” and “Creators Turned Into Prey”.
Elder Devil – Everything Worth Loving
Genre: Hardcore/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5hardcore occasionally ramping up into deathcore and leaning partially on a black metal “everything-will-die”-mood, although seemingly lacking a good progress plan.
Fifth Angel – When Angels Kill
Genre: Heavy metal/hard rock
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5A hard rock-riffing, shred-y modern heavy metal record with few ideas but solid vocals.
Frozen Land – Out Of The Dark
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Full-on power metal showing off some serious guitar chops and solid, fun songwriting, though lacking a bit of drive and consistency of quality.
Helleruin – Devils, Death And Dark Arts
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Straight black metal leaning tastefully on the melancholy tremolo, and although definitely in the “raw”-territory, not hiding the result behind a wall of low-fi noise.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation
Genre: Stoner metal/progressive hard rock
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 5/5King Gizzard’s escapades can be a little confusing at times – effortlessly and deliberately steering clear of expectations and doing whatever the heck (it seems) they feel like in the moment. A new season of the year – a new Lizard Wizard. Which makes it all the more of an event when they release an album like this, with a stylistic consistency as solid as bedrock. This is stoner through and through, but with a supercharger attached, and a stunt driver behind the wheel. Some of the riffs are pure thrash metal, and it seems the band has unlocked the secret recipe to the perfect amount of prog digression. Putting this record on will feel like an event over and over and over again.
Highlights: “Gila Monster” and “Converge”.
Memorrhage – Memorrhage
Genre: Nu/industrial metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Mixing hardcore, hip-hop, industrial electronica and a bit of grindcore might sound like an overload, but it’s actually surprisingly straightforward.
Methedras – Human Deception
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Thrash metal flirting with modern melodeath, and it’s aptly aggressive, although not quite landing the big, lasting punches.
Rise To The Sky – Two Years Of Grief
Genre: Melodic doom/death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A combination of classic, funeral-like death doom and solemn, melancholy melodic sections that function a bit more as a backdrop than they probably should.
Sammath – Grebbeberg
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Violent and intense, rough-around the edges black metal, just as ordered. They certainly go at it with purpose, although it feels like something you’ll have heard before somewhere.
Saturnus – The Storm Within
Genre: Melodic death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5These guys are obviously experienced in the meld of epic death doom and sweeping melodies, and if their style is something you have come to love, then this is the stuff you’ve been craving. They do take their sweet time though…
Thy Catafalque – Alföld
Genre: Avant-garde/folk metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5For those of us who are fans of metal music that refuses to stay within set boundaries, or even those limits created by your own expectations from listening to the first few minutes of the album, Thy Catafalque know how to deliver. To my memory this is a slightly darker and more black metal-influenced than their last album, Vadak, and the start of the album leads you to thing that it’ll be heavy from start to finish. But no, further in, the atmospheric breaks become wilder, longer and more frequent, which, by contrast, makes the returns to extreme metal riffing feel all the more impactful. It’s playful, melancholy, bright, aggressive, straightforward and mysterious all at different points in time, which feels just a bit like life, really.
Highlights: “A földdel egyenlo” and “Néma vermek”.
Varmia – nie nas widzę
Genre: Black/folk metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A raw and aggressive take on blackened folk metal, with several elements that bring to mind bands like Behemoth. It’s not quite pitch black, with several traditional folk interludes, but also a bit heavy handed when the two styles meet.
Vile Ritual – Caverns Of Occultic Hatred
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Brutal, cavernous, monstrous death metal that like to settle into a slow, doomy pace and a really dark mood.
Witchskull – The Serpent Tide
Genre: Stoner/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5A heavy, galloping stoner trot allies with a doom tone and a distinct vocal style to create something that’s both groovy and feels a bit occult.
Wooden Shadow – Eternal Land Of Wrath And Mourn
Genre: Melodic black/folk metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Finnish melodic black metal that, surprising no one, has a lot of lively guitar work and a certain forest-y feeling to it, but, along those lines, also suffers a bit from lack of originality.
World Eater – An Insidious Remedy
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Sinister-toned, young death metal that’s trying to achieve some of that horror factor without getting corny or retro about it along the way. It works well while lively and aggressive, but still needs a bit more work to keep the slower sections interesting.
Highlights: “Gridworm” and “Scorched Quadrant”
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, do feel free to express yourself in the comments section below.
-
Weekly rundown June 09 – 2023
The riff is king this week, with a slew of releases vying for your utmost appreciation of their guitar-based escapades.
The Arcane Order – Distortions From Cosmogony
Genre: Technical/symphonic death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5An apocalyptic barrage of technicality and drama, not wholly unlike Fleshgod Apocalypse, but more taken with progressive instrumental approaches.
Aodon – Portraits
Genre: Atmospheric/melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Thoroughly downer-toned, yet instrumentally rather intense, this is highly competent, although not particularly original atmospheric black metal.
Avarice – Avarice
Genre: Thrash/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Enjoyable for sure, there’s a lot of evident inspiration on this one, and not a lot of noticeable innovation.
The Bleeding – Monokrator
Genre: Death/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5If you’re just looking for some high-speed, relentless death metal with the good ‘ol headbang-ability that only thrash can deliver, then this is most definitely for you. Throat-rending vocals, chainsaw riffs, razor-sharp solos and very busy drums all make for a pleasingly aggressive and precise cacophony.
Highlights: “Screams of Torment” and “Mutation Chamber”.
Brahmashiras – Brahmashiras
Genre: Blackened hardcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Pleasingly simple, and with the right sort of occult-y measures in place to make this a successful black metal/hardcore crossover.
Carry the Torch – Delusion
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5A decent attempt at slightly epic, slightly thrashy melodeath that doesn’t lean too much into the path.
Dead Quiet – IV
Genre: Doom/stoner metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is doom driven by stoner groove, and sprinkled with psychedelia-flavored prog playfulness.
Ekrom – Uten Nådigst Formildelse
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5An album, and band, that’s definitely looking to the past, yet realizing it could do with some improvements, this is classic Norwegian black metal with some tasteful melodic and technical buffs.
Max Enix – Far From Home
Genre: Symphonic/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 2/5Pretentiously conceptual, with vocals more than occasionally out of tune, you must have a particular penchant for storytelling symphonic metal to enjoy this.
False Memories – Hybrid Ego System
Genre: Symphonic/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5A vocal-centric, bummer-toned symphonic-ish album with some aggressive elements, but unfortunately very little drive.
Geld – Currency // Castration
Genre: Hardcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5A highly abrasive hardcore album, with raspy vocals and insistent guitars leading a persistent attack on your eardrums, it’s tempered by some rock ‘n roll swagger and the occasional alien, experimental ambience, which gives it an unexpected depth.
Glass Casket – Glass Casket (EP)
Genre: Groove/death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Four songs packed with aggressive groove bad-assery. The instruments never seem content to stick to one section longer than a few seconds before a few twists and turns take you to the next one. It results in an eager energy that keeps on producing memorable parts scattered all over.
Highlight: “For the Living”.
Godflesh – Purge
Genre: Industrial/experimental metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 4/5A plunge into utter darkness, which speaks in a detached, mechanical language, immersed in nightmarish ambience. It’s an album of subtle nuances, crafted very deliberately, and the effect is both hypnotic and disturbing at the same time.
Johnny The Boy – You
Genre: Black/sludge metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is black metal riding a doomy wave of sludge, though infused with a morbid rock n’ roll spirit which whips up the mood every now and then.
Legion Of The Damned – The Poison Chalice
Genre: Thrash/black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is nothing but non-stop tremolo-happy thrash metal. Whatever hellish motor is driving this unstoppable riff train seems like it could keep going without pause for years – hissing fiendish vocals and spitting licks like captivating curses. If this doesn’t get your head banging you’ve sure to have some frozen joints.
Highlights: “Beheading of the Godhead” and “Savage Intent”
Rise To Fall – The Fifth Dimension
Genre: Melodic death/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Exquisite melodic work over songwriting that treads very familiar paths dominate this mild melodeath album.
Scar Symmetry – The Singularity (Phase II – Xenotaph)
Genre: Melodic/progressive death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Time to dive into the shifting and rather hectic cosmic landscape that is the brand of melodeath of Scar Symmetry. It’s as adventurous as ever, with the instrumental technicality on full display, and presented with crystal clarity. The aggression of the most intense parts stand in significant contrast to the near-power metal clean approach typically seen around the choruses, and certain sections are allowed to strike out on expeditions of progressive playfulness. The result is great variation, although, perhaps, a slight lack of dedication to a cohesive style.
Highlights: “Gridworm” and “Scorched Quadrant”
Slow Fall – Obsidian Waves
Genre: Progressive/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Mid-paced progressive metal see-sawing on the border between aggression and drawn-out dramatic melody.
Torture Rack – Primeval Onslaught
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Quick and dirty, with a Motörhead-like approach to death metal, it’s stone carved bad-assery that you can rely on.
Vortex – The Future Remains In Oblivion
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Fairly heavy-handed even as symphonic extreme metal goes, this still delivers a decent amount of semi-technical brutality in a forceful manner.
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, do feel free to express yourself in the comments section below.
-
Weekly rundown June 02 – 2023
A week of surprises, this one offers up a blend of the traditional and the experimental, with little adherence to boring conventions.
Anubis Gate – Interference
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Mild mannered and melodic progressive metal with electronic elements.
Atlases – Between The Day & I
Genre: Progressive metalcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Somewhat dark and stylistically clean metalcore with artistic ambitions.
Avenged Sevenfold – Life Is But A Dream
Genre: Heavy/experimental metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5The question to be asked is what isn’t A7X trying to do on this latest, experimental record. Sure, it’s still recognizably them, but nodding into progressive and industrial styles and getting completely carried away into conceptual avant-gardism towards the end. Props for trying, but it’s neither bold nor stylistically coherent enough.
Bongzilla – Dab City
Genre: Stoner/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5If there was such a thing as funeral stoner (and heck, why not?) this would be well on the way to qualifying as such. Dazed, fuzzy and heavy, with occasional sludge-style gurgle-vocals.
Buggin – Concrete Cowboys
Genre: Hardcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is the most fun 19 minutes you’ll have all week. What you get is youthful hardcore brimming with punk- and garage rock energy. It’s absolutely riff-centric and doesn’t shy from a bit of dynamic rhythm work and groove on top. Your mind immediately goes to a tight-packed, sweaty basement venue where the band members spend more time stomping around with the audience than up on stage.
Highlights: “All Eyes On You” and “Hard 2 kill”.
Cosmic Burial – Far Away From Home
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Skygazing, chilling instrumental black metal that’s too caught up with weaving a vivid, melodic tapestry out of infinity to care about being particularly dark.
Dieth – To Hell And Back
Genre: Death/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Solid death metal-light, focusing on melody, groove and a more inviting, polished overall soundscape.
Gloryhammer – Return To The Kingdom Of Fife
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Utterly unashamed, all-out epic power metal, filling you with warm fuzzy feelings, perhaps a biproduct of the overall sound being overly cushioned.
Halflighted – Obloquy
Genre: Death/sludge metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Ragged, disharmonious and slightly disturbing death sludge that could do with a stronger drive.
Hemplifier – The Stoner Side of the Doom
Genre: Stoner/doom metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Dragging, dark-toned stoner that sounds like a threatening murmur from within a dark alley.
Koningsor – Death Process (EP)
Genre: Mathcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A melodic mathcore EP that takes you weird places if you let it. Plenty og aggression, but also a decent amount of atmosphere.
The Kryptik – A Journey To The Darkest Kingdom
Genre: Symphonic/atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Atmospheric black metal that’s a bit overloaded with gothic-tinged symphonic elements, robbing the songs of identity.
Necrofier – Burning Shadows In The Southern Night
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5This one treads the line between traditional and distinctive, and manages the balancing act quite well. You get most of the hallmarks of the old school style – slightly rusty production, lots of tremolo and a coherently grim tone, but there’s a fullness to it, and a clear desire to add character to every step of the process. As a result, it will satisfy the urge for no-frills darkness, with a flavor that makes you remember it.
Highlights: “Burnt by the Sacred Flame” and “Total Southern Darkness”.
OK Goodnight – The Fox and the Bird
Genre: Progressive/experimental metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5A concept album through and through, this is mild, though highly experimental, prog metal teeming with indie energy. Though there’s a good bit of shredding in here, don’t expect any sort of no-holds-barred instrumental pummeling. This one takes its time in telling a tale of many nuances, and it’s reflected in every part of the music. The good news is that it feels organic and purposeful, as opposed to a jam session interspersed with artsy interludes.
Highlights: “The Bear” and “The Falcon”.
Pupil Slicer – Blossom
Genre: Progressive metalcore/math metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5At least instrumentally, this has a drop of that unpredictable, gleeful madness that makes bands like Avatar so unique, and I’m digging it. If you come here expecting pure mathcore, you might be slightly disappointed, although you shouldn’t be, cause you’re getting that and more. It’s got a good balance between melody and spit-in-your-face hardcore harshness, insane drum work, surprising tonal variation and overall feels like a mature musical statement.
Highlights: “Momentary Actuality” and “No Temple”
Red Cain – Nae’bliss
Genre: Progressive/electronic metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Melodic and modern progressive metal leaning into heavy metal loftiness.
Thantifaxath – Hive Mind Narcosis
Genre: Avant-garde black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5This is black metal that goes well out of its way to transport you to a sonic nightmare realm. A symphony of black lunacy, it serves up bone-chilling dissonance, hateful instrumental intensity and an atmosphere that brings to mind rampaging, malicious spirits. Definitely something you need to be in the right head space for.
World I Hate – Years Of Lead
Genre: Hardcore/grindcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A heavy, heavy, heavy hardcore album spitting bile and fire. It goes over the grindcore-top every now and then, further adding to the intensity.
Wytch Hazel – IV: Sacrament
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5This one oozes style. A band that has found its niche, supporting the members’ abilities to the fullest and syncing perfectly with their creativity. It’s medieval themed heavy metal with a taste of old school prog rock, without any of the gaudiness you might expect to come with it. The tone is melancholy-tinged, almost doomy, but also elegantly groovy, like Ghost at their absolute best. There may not be any big surprises, other than the fact that the quality is as damn consistent as it is, and the lingering feeling is one of nostalgic comfort mixed with admiration for the thematic dedication.
Highlights: “The Fire’s Control” and “Digging Deeper”.
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, do feel free to express yourself in the comments section below.
-
Weekly rundown May 26 – 2023
Turn that cross upside-down and light a few torches – this week is a triumph of black metal, both in its purest form and hand-in-hand with its extreme brethren.
Arrival Of Autumn – Kingdom Undone
Genre: Metalcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Aggressive and leaning towards the same kind of harsh-ish groove that bands like Kataklysm employs, it’s quite satisfying technically.
Balance Breach – Abyzmal
Genre: Metalcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Although overproduced to the point of anthemic EDM-music, this one’s steeped in a dark atmosphere and offers enough moments of intensity to remain vigorous and exciting.
:BOLVERK: – Svarte Sekunder
Genre: Progressive black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Retaining some rough edges and light uncertainty of approach, this is still a very promising mix of Darkthrone-ish primitive-rhythm black metal and measured progressive experimentation.
Carry The Torch – Delusion
Genre: Thrash/death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Comfortable with both groove, catchiness and even a bit of atmosphere, this lack the punching power to knock your socks even halfway off.
Cloak – Black Flame Eternal
Genre: Black/gothic/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Mixing Witchery’s wicked black ‘n roll riffs with Tribulation-levels of gothic groove and a bit of Satyricon loftiness proves a successful recipe when executed like on this album. There’s something to like for pretty much any fan of dark metal. It’s mostly energetic, but delivers some solid graveyard atmosphere as well, at not-too regular intervals. It feels like a very complete package that invites repeated listens.
Highlights: “The Holy Dark” and “Black Flame Eternal”.
dEMOTIONAL – Scandinavian Aftermath
Genre: Electronic/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Catchiness and modern, big production above all, this is reminiscent of a fairly well executed marriage of alternative- and pop-oriented metal.
Elegant Weapons – Horns For A Halo
Genre: Heavy metal/hard rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Mixing hard rock sleaze with 80s heavy metal and adding some sting to the riff approach works really quite well for these guys and will absolutely please fans of old school groove.
Ethereal Void – Gods Of A Dead World
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5A very headbanger-friendly death metal album that goes all out on working catchy riffs around a slightly to insistent wicked-toned lead guitar.
Hate Manifesto – ΑΠΟΣΤΑΤΗΣ
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Blackened death metal that’s got charred brutality in spades, but perhaps not too much else to contrast it.
Immortal – War Against All
Genre: Melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Successfully tapping into the rousing qualities of the glorious past, the identity of Immortal remains strong, taking the march-to-war blackened melodeath approach to a new, enthusiastic level that doesn’t quite drown out the feeling of predictability.
Inherus – Beholden
Genre: Doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Ominous and at times quite forceful doom metal with a blackened flair.
Kostnatení– Úpal
Genre: Experimental black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Dissonant and hostile in its lack of approachability, this taps into the chaos and “ugly” sound of the original second wave of black metal while taking the technicality and experimentation a good step further in search of a unnerving expression.
Legion Of The Damned – The Poison Chalice
Genre: Death/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A thrash/death record that utilizes the best of each camp to deliver an unstoppable pummeling of raw-toned riffs, steadfast rhythms and scorching solos.
Metal Church – Congregation Of Annihilation
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5There’s not much to say about this record, other than you get what you expect, with a noticeable and laudable energy behind it.
Mournful Congregation – The Exuviae of Gods – Part II
Genre: Funeral doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Melodic and mournful with some driving lead guitar work, this is slightly ptempo funeral doom that moves on many levels, but doesn’t quite reach the peaks of dramatic atmosphere that would’ve taken it to the next level.
Nattverd – I Helvetes Forakt
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A meaty and well-controlled take on the classic Norwegian black metal sound, that’s at it’s best when laying into the aggression and incorporating energetic thrash elements.
Olkoth – At The Eye Of Chaos
Genre: Technical death/black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5An impressive blend of brutality and ferocious technicality that isn’t out to overwhelm you. That isn’t to say that it doesn’t feel like a momentous assault on your eardrums, but it’s a relatively measured one, with rhythms that normal humans can actually comprehend. The unholy tone to the riffs is somewhat reminiscent of Behemoth, although this is quite a bit more death metal oriented. The riffs land hard, and the raspy vocals keep the overall impact from feeling polished.
Highlights: “Incendiary prayers” and “To Eat of the Lotus”
Phlebotomized – Clouds Of Confusion
Genre: Progressive death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A (mildly) melodically experimental death metal album that interrupts its otherwise old school approach with synth elements and alternative rhythmic interludes.
Reasons Behind – Architecture Of An Ego
Genre: Symphonic/electronic metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5A very run-of-the-mill female fronted symphonic/power metal album that feels more like techno half of the time.
RUÏM – Black Royal Spiritism – I.O Sino Da Igreja
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5An album that rekindles that early black metal sense of containing something forbidden – something that you really shouldn’t be listening to if you want to keep the purity of your soul intact. The level of dissonance in the tone is cranked to a level beyond melancholy – to something that can only be the sound of damnation incarnate. There is a writhing, malevolent aggression to the riff work, the lyrics are spat as dark incantations, and the drums rumble and snap slightly below the rest, as if emanating from the deep. An extremely well crafted record.
Highlights: “The Triumph (Of Night & Fire)” and “Black Royal Spiritism”.
Sarvekas – Woven Dark Paths
Genre: Melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Cold and hissing Finnish black metal with Nordic melancholy dripping from its melodic work.
The Silent Rage – Nuances Of Life
Genre: Power/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Power metal with a clean production and tight, almost thrashy riff and rhythm work.
Sirenia – 1977
Genre: Symphonic metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5As expected, this is gothic-tinged, epic and melodic symphonic metal with an industrial quality to the guitars and rhythms.
Suffering Quota – Collide
Genre: Grindcore/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Attacking the instruments with maniacal purpose, this is mostly a shake-you-by-the-cuffs, harsh riff and rhythm assault.
Trespass – Wolf At The Door
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5A really rather mellow old school metal experience bringing a bit of stoner groove.
Trold – Der Var Engang…
Genre: Folk metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Much in the vein of Finntroll, this is jolly, low-brow storytelling in the guise of extreme folk metal, and it’s quite enjoyable if you like that sort of thing.
Under Attack – Fury Of The Thunder God
Genre: Heavy/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Barebones, rather predictable thrash metal with lofty traditional metal themes.
Usnea – Bathed In Light
Genre: Doom/black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Ominous is taken to a new level on this one. With a crushing depth to the bass end, a crackling ambient noise in the background and vocals shifting between dragged-out roars and snarls overlaying threatening riffs and hope-deprived melodies, this is a purposeful, all-consuming wave of darkness.
Vexing – Grand Reproach
Genre: Progressive sludge/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A busy interpretaion of a progressive sludge/death metal and grindcore collision, that isn’t as brutal as that might sound, and quite interesting in its experimentation.
Violent Sin – Serpent’s Call
Genre: Speed metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5An aggressive, blades-out take on thrashy speed metal, that’s first of all playful, invoking Kill ‘Em All-era Metallica.
Vomitory – All Heads Are Gonna Roll
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Invoking the raw groove of early Swedish death metal and supercharging it with a modern production and brutal technicality, this is pretty much everything you want in a straightforward, non-doom death metal album today. The riffs never end, the vocals sound like they’re ripping flesh, and the energy behind it all just doesn’t let up.
Highlights: “Piece by Stinking Piece” and “Ode to the meat Saw”.
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, do feel free to express yourself in the comments section below.
-
Weekly rundown May 19 – 2023
A week for the progressive and slightly different – pushing tried and tested recipes beyond the comfort zone.
Alcatrazz – Take No Prisoners
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Heavy metal that sounds pretty much unchanged from the glory days of NWOBHM, in that its creators probably haven’t have an original idea since then.
Arjen Lucassen’s Supersonic Revolution – Golden Age Of Music
Genre: Progressive/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5It’s no surprise with Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon) that the storytelling gets to take precedence over the instrumentation, but even as there are no surprises on here, it’s more balanced than you might expect.
Blindfolded And Led To The Woods – Rejecting Obliteration
Genre: Progressive death metal/deathcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5A head spinner of an exploratory and technical death metal album, without the need for piling on alienating dissonance. It’s aggressive as hell, and extremely versatile, as the instrumentation changes on the spot at any given time to best serve the mood of the current part of the song. And somehow it’s not jarring at all, certainly not if you’re partial to any sort of progressive or technical extreme metal at all. With elements of deathcore, mathcore and even some nu metal styled riffs in there, it feels like a creative maelstrom that keeps turning interesting shades of brutality and darkness.
Highlights: “Methlehem” and “Funeral Smiles”.
Botanist – VIII: Selenotrope
Genre: Avant-garde black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5You might at first struggle to identify the cause of why you would naturally place this in the black metal category. There are no harsh vocals, tremolo or even noticeable distorted riffing. And yet you HEAR it, somehow, as if on an inaudible frequency. Part of it is because the drum and bass work is very much following a black metal approach, an there is a darkness to the tone that goes beyond the harmonious, even hopeful melodies. It’s like fixing your gaze on the sun through a partial opening in the forest canopy and letting it distract you from the cold darkness of the woods that surround you.
Highlights: “Epidendrum Nocturnum” and “Angel’s Trumpet”.
Chronicle – Where Chaos Thrives
Genre: Melodic black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Black metal pouring on the brutality, as well as some vaguely eastern folk melody into something satisfyingly dark, if not terribly outstanding.
Frozen Soul – Glacial Domination
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Frozen soul are back with more frigid, horror- and violence-themed semi-melodic death metal, and once again it’s a heaven-in-hell of a sinister-toned jagged-riff extravaganza. While not building up to the most jaw dropping moments, the good stuff keeps on rolling song after song, with no real weak moments throughout.
Highlights: “Arsenal of War” and “Frozen Soul”.
Henget – Beyond North Star
Genre: Progressive black/folk metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is a dark progressive album that plays around with your expectations in really satisfying ways. The style swings between black metal and recognizably Finnish folk metal, but refuses to settle with any sort of conventional approach in either direction. Sometimes you’re convinced that this is serious blackened death metal, and some times it’s a mad amalgamation of cackilng laughter, gothic piano tunes and playful folk rock riffs. The rhythm goes from complex to catchy to whimsical, and while it can feel a bit random at times, it all adds up to a really flavorful experience.
Highlights: “The Chalice of Life and Death” and “Henkivallat”.
Inferion – Inequity
Genre: Melodic black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A slightly clinical but still pretty great sounding modern melodic black/death metal album with plenty of enjoyable riffs and a uniform, warm tone.
Mystic Prophecy – Hellriot
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Very catchy, heavy-riffed power metal about epic battles and, well… metal.
Nexorum – Tongue Of Thorns
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5A darkly melodic yet aggressive blackened death metal album with an ominous, cavernous feel, although with clear and rich production.
The Ocean – Holocene
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5Thematically on point, this is a patiently unfolding listening experience that dives deep as much as it crashes up through the surface. There’s a bigger emphasis on electronic atmosphere this time around, but it’s not overstated and feels organically aligned with the rest of the instrumentation. The immersion is, perhaps unsurprisingly, sublime, and highly rewarding. From trickling melancholy to tempestuous triumph, this easily meets the expectations of being one of the most outstanding prog metal releases of the year.
Highlights: “Parabiosis” and “Boreal”.
Omen Astra – The End Of Everything
Genre: Hardcore/death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5This sounds like alternative hardcore that’s harnessed a bit more death metal power than it’s fully capable of handling.
Radien – Unissa Palaneet
Genre: Doom/sludge metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Strong on atmosphere, fortunately, as there’s a lot of it, and then a bit of dissonant sludge rage.
Shadows – Out For Blood
Genre: Heavy/gothic metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is ghost meets merciful fate meets old school heavy metal. Although the instruments speak catchy, playful traditional riffs and solos, there’s a lot of tasteful, horror-gothic atmosphere.
Sporae Autem Yuggoth – …However It Still Moves
Genre: Death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5A gloomy, earth-encrusted death doom record that’s a bit too sluggish for its own good.
Thulcandra – Hail The Abyss
Genre: Melodic black metal
Subjective rating: /5
Objective rating: /5This is melodic black metal with a flair for the epic, without dipping into the symphonic well like Dimmu Borgir, and that’s also pretty riff happy, without edging into thrash like Thron. You’ll find more similarities to Immortal/Abbath and Volcano-era Satyricon, with plenty of tremolo chills and some fairly crisp technicality, and melodic sections that bear more than a little relation to melodeath, Apart from letting the intensity fade out a bit towards the end, it’s a black-cloaked pleaser through and through.
Highlights: “Hail the Abyss” and “On the Wings of Cosmic Fire”.
VHS – Quest For The Mighty Riff
Genre: Death/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5Imagine a dedicated and fun-loving, retro-oriented traditional metal band with a power metal penchant for medieval tales of swords and chivalry… only it’s a death metal band. That’s what this is, in a nutshell, with some thrash riffs thrown in there to make sure they keep it nice and lively. There’s lots of sound bites from old VHS-era cult classics to go with the theme, and the song length and rhythm complexity are way down, making this an album you can jump in and enjoy the hell out of at any mental state,
Highlights: “The Fighting Eagle” and “Adventurers, Heroes, Brothers”.
Yakuza – Sutra
Genre: Progressive/experimental metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A restless, constantly shifting grunge-like progressive metal album with traces of Rivers of Nihil.
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, do feel free to express yourself in the comments section below.
-
Weekly rundown May 12 – 2023
Landing hard with some heavily anticipated releases, this week also offers some impressive breakouts from the underground.
The Acacia Strain – Failure Will Follow
Genre: Sludge/doom metal/deathcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A very measured and atmospheric take on doom dragging out the intensity of deathcore. It works on many levels, but the total isn’t as rewarding as it probably should be.
The Acacia Strain – Step Into The Light
Genre: Deathcore/mathcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5A tortured trampling of deathcore with some math complexity thrown in there, and often at the speed and intensity level of grind. It’s not totally off its hinges though, offering blood-igniting buildups, interesting and varied rhythm work and enough of a hint of sinister melody to build a very effective mood. And breakdowns, naturally.
Highlights: “FRESH BONES” and “UNTENDED GRAVES”
The Amity Affliction – Not Without My Ghosts
Genre: Metalcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Highly percussive, big-production, electronica-backed melodic metalcore with a solid mix of full-out aggression and pop-oriented choruses.
Ascended Dead – Evenfall Of The Apocalypse
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Distinctly low-fi blackened death metal that seeks to overwhelm you at every turn. And yet there’s a terrifying majesty to the chaos.
Battle Born – Blood, Fire, Magic And Steel
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Tastefully cheesy power metal with a lot of retro electronica to it, unapologetically epic fantasy themes and overall just a very entertaining disposition.
Burial Clouds – Last Days of a Dying World
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Atmospheric, lamenting doom interspersed with dissonant, bleak aggression, making for an impression of something writhing in agony.
Cattle Decapitation – Terrasite
Genre: Technical death metal/deathcore
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Even more so than on the last album, Cattle Decapitation’s technical death metal strikes with the apocalyptic force and grandeur of deathcore. Layers of spite and outrage are packed in waves of concussive brutality, but it’s also very tightly controlled and ushered on by winds of ominous melody. The method to the madness is not subtle on this, but as a consequence you are treated to an obvious and awe-inspiring display of instrumental mastery, while very much staying on message.
Highlights: “We Eat Our Young” and “A Photic Doom”.
Chained To The Bottom Of The Ocean – Obsession Destruction
Genre: Sludge/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5A hateful, blackened doom record scraping at the deepest recesses of your brain with raspy sludge ire that’s captured perfectly in the crisp vocal style and malicious riff tone. There is little but abyssal darkness on here, but you get the occasional surge of pounding, rhythmic heaviness.
Dead Shape Figure – The Sworn Book
Genre: Symphonic death/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5An interesting combination of brutal, symphonic majesty and thrashy groove metal riffs that unfortunately clash a bit on a rhythmic level.
DevilDriver – Dealing With Demons Vol. II
Genre: Groove metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5The second part of the concept album duo from DevilDriver offers more technical groove riffing and is on form in most ways, but lacks a significant drive to elevate it into something special.
Esoctrilihum – Astraal Constellations of the Majickal Zodiac
Genre: Technical black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Aside from some fairly rough vocal work and a slightly messy production, this has the technical chops and sense of atmospheric bombast to grow into something noteworthy.
Exitium – Imperitous March for Abysmal Glory
Genre: Black/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Tightly produced black metal offering up controlled thrash riffing amidst ominous, tremolo-boosted atmosphere.
Godsnake – Eye For An Eye
Genre: Thrash metal/hard rock
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Bog-standard riffing with tired lyrics and bland choruses distract from some nice crunchy riffing.
Gonemage – Astral Corridors
Genre: Electronic black/noise metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Noisy, at times brutal black metal that’s partly given the classic arcade chiptune-sound treatment. It has a lot of strong sections, that you will get to if you can bear with a bit of weirdness.
Hex A.D. – Delightful Sharp Edges
Genre: Progressive/doom metal/rock
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5An odd coupling of harmonic, light ambience and a bit of old school doom woven together with a free-spirited prog metal attitude.
Impetuous Ritual – Iniquitous Barbarik Synthesis
Genre: Death/noise metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A hellish, cavernous cacophony of noise that is as impenetrable as it is malignant.
Left To Suffer – Feral
Genre: Metalcore/deathcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A furious explosion of modern metalcore with plenty of deathcore crossover in brutal breakdowns and animalistic vocals.
Logical Terror – Sides Of The Unknown
Genre: Industrial/electronic metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Melodic and with artificial-sounding rhythms, and very vanilla harmonies.
Never Ending Game – Outcry
Genre: Metallic hardcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Riffs! This thing is a chugging monster of stomp-rhythm riffs, pinch harmonics and Metallica-style solos. With coarse, commanding vocals leading the way and an infectious no-way-but-forward energy from start to finish, it’s pretty much impossible not to get bitten by the bug.
Highlights: “Hate Today… Die Tomorrow” and “Never Die”.
Oreida – The Eternal
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Instrumental, atmospheric black metal of the ever so slightly low-fi variant, offering entry into a harsh and melancholic, but stirring soundscape.
Pronostic – Chaotic Upheaval
Genre: Technical/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Despite some occasionally stumbling rhythms and section transitions, this is a goodie bag of playful instrumental work, vivid melody and eager aggression.
ScreaMachine – Church Of The Scream
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Some chest-beating, live-oriented heavy metal that’s an uncomplicated good time.
Sunbeam Overdrive – Diama
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Fairly heavy progressive metal with some strong alternative leanings, even nu-metal at times.
Thanatomass – Hades
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Echoing, tomb-dwelling black metal that’s refreshingly non-folky in tone, going for the old school chaotic instrumentation but a warmer atmosphere.
They Watch Us From the Moon! – Cosmic Chronicles, Act I: The Ascension
Genre: Melodic doom/stoner metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A space exploring doom metal record led by clean, sublime vocals. Even as the heavy riffs allude to the darkness of the journey, there is an uplifting sense of adventure to the melodies, and some rich, stoner groove to comfort you along the way. The production is excellent, and there’s a laid-back immersion to the progression that’s vey inviting.
Highlights: “On the Fields Of The Moon” and “Creeper A.D.”
Veil Of Maya – [m]other
Genre: Technical deathcore/metalcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Extreme technical aggression meets synth-spacey backing melodies, snarly screaming and a few pop-oriented choruses.
Veriluola – Cascades Of Crimson Cruor
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Technically solid, with eager, creative riffing and strong atmospheric work, this blackened death album is let down by a power-sapping production.
Worth – Worth
Genre: Melodic death/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2/5Unengaging melodies and a failure to commit to either aggression or catchiness leaves this one hanging in the void.
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, do feel free to express yourself in the comments section below.
-
Weekly rundown May 05 – 2023
We’ve got the old- and new school battling it out this week, particularly within metalcore and death metal, with some interesting prog outfits off to the side, minding their own business.
Burning Witches – The Dark Tower
Genre: Heavy/power metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Epic-style traditional heavy metal with forceful vocals and a bit of a sinister streak. It has all the right ingredients, although don’t deliver all that much beyond what you might expect.
Currents – The Death We Seek
Genre: Metalcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is heavy and aggressive metalcore borrowing some punishing vocal and instrumental brutality, as well as atmospheric grandeur, from deathcore, and adding on to it with djent-y, percussive riffing and electronic melody. All the elements found here feel very familiar to the point of being well-worn, but the way they are combined in order to create an immersive dynamic is a solid feat of songwriting.
Curse Of Cain – Curse Of Cain
Genre: Metalcore/electronic metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A sci-fi-themed, electronica-boosted mix of metalcore and modern melodeath.
Dawn of Existence – Ancient Arts
Genre: Melodic death/black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5This one finds a good tonal mix between old school melodeath and black metal, but the rest is mostly a bit of a mess.
Deathstars – Everything Destroys You
Genre: Industrial metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5As expected, this is mildly gothic/emo, hard rock-y industrial metal with catchy riffs and arena-oriented melodies.
Drain – Living Proof
Genre: Hardcore/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Knuckleduster hardcore with a layer of thrash metal barbed wire wrapped around it. The rhythms tends towards more simplistic punk rock stuff, but also erupts with aggression.
Enforcer – Nostalgia
Genre: Heavy/speed metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5The title certainly wasn’t chosen randomly for this one. This might very well have come out in the 80’s, and has most all of the speedy riffs and high pitched vocals you’ll crave.
Extermination Dismemberment – Dehumanization Protocol
Genre: Brutal/symphonic death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A very precisely executed and well produced brutal death metal album, a little short on groove and a consistent rhythm approach.
Finality – Technocracy
Genre: Technical thrash/power metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Speedy and fairly groove-oriented thrash with an epic core, although the melodic work and production are fairly weak.
Godslut – Procreation Of God
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5If only the rest of the songs could have matched the first two, which are thrashy, crisp ragers, instead of tripping along on staccato blast beats for most of the remainder, then this could have been truly awesome.
Haunt – Golden Arm
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Haunt keep doing their thing with occult-style, retro heavy metal. It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but some of the sections on here feel pretty tired.
Heimland – Forfedrenes Taarer
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Bread-and-butter Norwegian black metal with a good dose of melancholic folk atmosphere.
Herod – The Iconoclast
Genre: Progressive sludge metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5This one has all the fury and force of a tempestuous ocean, and at the same the dark, mystical atmosphere of its calm-yet-crushing depths as well. Every part of the vocal and instrumental execution are allowed to erupt to the full extent of their potential, and flow well past the point of their full power – dying off and bleeding naturally into the calmer, darkly melodic parts. And thus, despite its contrasts, the album feels extremely well connected.
Highlights: “Obsolete” and “The Edifice”.
Hyeena – Freedom From The Default
Genre: Metalcore/hardcore
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Fairly flat and uninteresting rhythm wise, and with uninspired melodic work.
Intöxicated – Sadistic Nightmares
Genre: Speed/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A good time of raspy, thrash-riffed speed metal with plenty of tasty guitar work and adventurous drumming.
The Modern Age Slavery – 1901 | The First Mother
Genre: Deathcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Pumped-up, lightly symphonic deathcore tapping into the visceral sounds of death metal and grindcore, delivering loads of aggression and some killer riffs.
Muskeg Charnel – Decomposition Part 3: Rigor Mortis
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5Muted and supremely gloomy black metal dipping into death brutality at certain points.
Nadir – Extinction Rituals
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A transcendent black metal album, in that it rests on a core of traditional elements, but plays relatively unbound by its conventions. You’ll hear death, thrash and traditional heavy metal, with subdued melodic and symphonic elements. And instead of the directionless melting pot you might expect, you get a progressive album, not quite to the experimental degree of Ihsahn or Enslaved, but still very much cohesive and purposeful.
Highlights: “Iron Lung” and “Extinction Rituals”.
Nightmarer – Deformity Adrift
Genre: Technical death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 4/5Like a ravenous beast in the dark, this album prowls your darkest dreams, lurking behind every corner and chasing you down till the last ragged breath leaved your lungs. Dissonant and harsh, this is not for those looking for melody in their death metal. Instead you get towering mounds of threatening atmosphere and murderously precise rhythm work.
Spinebreaker – Cavern Of Inoculated Cognition (EP)
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is classic, murky death metal that somehow sounds even more old school being driven by rebellious hardcore rhythms. And that devil-may-care attitude infuses it with an infectious energy that contrasts the gloomy, morbid tone, yet somehow without breaking it. It’s great.
Highlight: “Spectral Forge”.
Teeth – A Biblical Worship Of Violence
Genre: Metalcore/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3,5/5A near-unbelievable output of violent aggression, like an electrically charged tsunami of barbed wire.
Tygers Of Pan Tang – Bloodlines
Genre: Heavy metal/hard rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A genuinely solid marriage of old school metal and modern hard rock by these veterans.
Unearth – The Wretched; The Ruinous
Genre: Metalcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5If you’re a fan of the classic melodic metalcore sound of the mid-2000s, then consider this album a nostalgic adrenaline shot. It’s very close to an all-of-the-good – none-of-the-bad situation, where you get the familiar rhythmic elements, the shred and the belting aggression, with less of the anthemic tendencies and hardly any of the overly soft chorus sections. So good to hear this sound still alive and well, and delivered with such enthusiastic force.
Highlights: “Into the Abyss” and “Call of Existence”.
Vintersea – Woven Into Ashes
Genre: Progressive extreme metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A shifting and churning progressive album that exists very comfortably within the extreme sphere of metal, while also delving into lulls of melancholy.
Vvon Dogma I – The Kvlt Of Glitch
Genre: Progressive/electronic metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5A wildly creative conglomeration of modern prog elements and atmosphere-generating electronica. You get dissonance, groove, epic melody and tons of nerdy technicality that aims to prod every nook and cranny of your brain.
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, do feel free to express yourself in the comments section below.
-
Weekly rundown April 28 – 2023
A fairly broad spectrum week showcasing some of the best that a good handful of subgenres have each respectively produced so far this year.
Allochiria – Commotion
Genre: Avant-garde sludge metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5What feels like an emotionally raw, even fragile, sludge output with elements of indie rock and some progressive elements.
Austere – Corrosion Of Hearts
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Autumnal, sweeping black metal that’s all about the mournful melodies.
Cadaveric Crematorium – Zombology
Genre: Death/groove metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Rather dry and a bit flat sounding brutal death metal with a healthy dose of groove injected at somewhat irregular intervals.
Crown The Empire – Dogma
Genre: Metalcore/screamo
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5On-the-nose emotional on the one side, then the massive noise walls of harsh screams and slamming instruments hit.
Danava – Nothing But Nothing
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is like Zeppelin, Sabbath and early Maiden collided and somehow merged into one. You couldn’t get a more faithful injection of 70’s metal and hard rock without an actual time machine. And it’s blatantly obvious how much fun they’re having with it. Early metal enthusiasm meets prog restlessness and is grounded by the groove of early doom for a highly pleasing result that commands you to get up and move.
Highlights: “Let The Good Tmes Kill” and “Enchanted Villain”.
Defiled – The Highest Level
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Raw-to-the-bone death metal using some experimental rhythms that come off a bit more messy than was probably intended. A bit too much filler, but lots of cool sections.
Elvenking – Reader Of The Runes – Rapture
Genre: Power/folk metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Sure, all the stadium riffs and sing-along choruses are there, the mood is great, but the melodies don’t always quite land.
Enforced – War Remains
Genre: Thrash/hardcore
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Looking at the album cover, this is exactly what you hope it might sound like. Ripping aggression, a Slayer-like, menacing tone and just inexhaustible amounts of fuck-off energy. They give you both pedal-to-the-metal speed riffing and groove-laden breakdowns, and achieve a highly successful balance between caveman-instinct-pleasing bad-assery and actual message-conveying musical craftmanship.
Highlights: “Aggressive menace” and “Ultra-Violence”.
Erdling – Bestia
Genre: industrial metal/hard rock
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Dark, arena-oriented hard rock with some synth-laden industrial heaviness. Not very original, but catchy.
Existentialist – The Heretic
Genre: Symphonic/blackened deathcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5What might have been a satisfying shot of darkly majestic and brutal deathcore lost in an incredibly messy mix.
Exit Catacomb – No Escape from the Catacomb
Genre: Black/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5A catchy, speed/traditional metal detour for a core black metal sound that lacks a little maturity before it’s fully there.
Fardeaux – The Den Has Become an Abyss
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A terrifying descent into an abyss where reality itself shakes with thundering, organic rhythms and a demonic rasp hurls unholy incantations at you. This blends the fury of earlier Behemoth with some of the experimentation and disturbing atmosphere of Blut Aus Nord, and even though the result might be a little uneven, you’re in for quite the experience if you stick around.
Highlights: “Declining To Haj-Hjem-H…” and “Le Rituel Du Double”.
Fatuous Rump – I Am At Your Disposal
Genre: Brutal death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Over-the-top in its brutality and broken-garbage-disposal gurgling vocals, it’s actually quite entertaining.
Fires In The Distance – Air Not Meant For Us
Genre: Melodic death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 5/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5Following up 2020’s fantastic Echoes from Deep November, Fires in the Distance brings us a somewhat colder, but just as moving surge of slightly up-tempo doom-styled melodic death metal. This one feels a little more focused than their debut album, incorporating more classic Gothenburg-y melodeath elements, but retaining all their signature approaches of flowing transitions between rumbly riff heaviness to piano-led, gentle melodies that feel like trickling streams of healing energy in your mind. I’d be surprised to find a better meld of controlled brutality and elegant beauty this year.
Highlights: “Wisdom of the Falling Leaves” and “Idiopathic Despair”.
Graveworm – Killing Innocence
Genre: Symphonic gothic/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A full-sounding, dramatic and aggressive symphonic black metal album with plenty of gothic sullen atmosphere.
Ignea – Dreams Of Lands Unseen
Genre: Symphonic/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Utilizing catchy, fairly straightforward progressive-style rhythms with some death metal chugging aggression backing sublime clean vocals and immersive melodies with folk elements, this one is a recipe for success. And the execution certainly follows through.
King Potenaz – Goat Rider
Genre: Stoner metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5This one’s all about the mood, that being a slow moving stoner groove train with super fuzzy doom riffs and slightly laid back vocals.
King Yosef – An Underlying Hum
Genre: Industrial metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5As a noise-leaning, industrial hardcore record full of aggression and electronica backed, harsh riffs, this is certainly on to something. Then it kind of fizzes out into a much more contemplative and artsy version of itself.
Lucifuge – Monoliths of Wrath
Genre: Thrash/black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This one feels like a Venom/Exodus collaboration project from back when both of those bands were starting out. Lots to love on here.
Lunar Chamber – Shambhallic Vibrations (EP)
Genre: Technical/progressive death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A far off-toned, horizon-gazing tech death EP that floats about in a sky of periodical technical aggression and quirky turns of atmospheric melody.
Mistral – In the Throes of Losing Love
Genre: Avant-garde black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Some of the sharp edges of black metal protruding from a core of moody, artsy and atmospheric indie, in a combination that some people like to describe as post metal.
Necronomicon – Constant To Death
Genre: Thrash/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5A mostly mid-tempo thrash affair with an old school heavy metal take on a dark magic-feel for the whole thing. It sounds a bit too much like a lot of other things.
Old Dirty Buzzard – What A Weird Hill To Die On
Genre: Heavy/sludge metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Very dirtied, stoner-groovy heavy metal that kind of just does its own thing.
OSM – Plagued By Doubts
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A heavy progressive output that radiates potential. There’s a real flair for the dramatic, and the technical execution is stellar, although some of the buildups and transitions can get a little tedious.
Pustilence – Beliefs of Dead Stargazers and Soothsayers
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5An unhinged, slightly flail-y death metal album that has a lot of the elements of a solid old school banger, but struggles a bit to land something truly cohesive.
Redshift – Laws Of Entropy
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Some fresh-faced, at times aggressive prog that feels more progressive for style’s sake than the result of true inspiration.
Runemagick – Beyond the Cenotaph of Mankind
Genre: Doom/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is a steam roller of a death-doom record, both in terms of tempo and heaviness. Good atmosphere, although you can be forgiven for not easily telling the songs apart.
Sentinel Sirens – Orbithon Wave
Genre: Thrash metal/punk
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Fairly stiff, but speedy thrash with a monotone kind of punk vocal style that detracts somewhat from the musical impact.
Sleepsculptor – Divine Recalibration
Genre: Mathcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is mathcore borrowing some deathcore heft to really let those percussive riffs and breakdowns land. At times experimental, there is still a bit too much tunnel-vision technical aggression on this one, but it’s a solid effort.
Spotlights – Alchemy For The Dead
Genre: Avant-garde doom metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5This record might at first strike you as an overly introspective, primarily shoegaze-y affair, but give it some time to grab a hold of you and you won’t be disappointed. Stylistically existing in a sort of dark dream state, you flow between melodic and dissonant approaches and turbulent storm fronts of doom heaviness. The transitions are so smooth that these moments are often upon you without warning, without feeling the least bit jarring. Let it draw you in, and you’ll be happy to stay.
Highlights: “Algorithmic” and “False Gods”.
Terrnoct – Icon Of Ruin
Genre: Technical/progressive death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Technical death metal trying to incorporate a few too many styles in one, the prominent ones being prog, symphonic and groove, also with a pinch of melodic and thrash.
Vadiat – Spear Of Creation
Genre: Death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Dark, rumbly death metal that mostly exists within the doomy deeps, but occasionally lashes out with some tasty thrash licks and a bit of melody.
Valgrind – Millennium of Night Bliss
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Slightly blackened death metal trying to be technical in a semi-chaotic way that the production can’t really keep up with.
Vaultwraith – Decomposing Spells
Genre: Black/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5While the enthusiasm is there, producing some fun, occult-sounding horror-themed black metal, the skill level of the performances and subsequent mixing isn’t quite there yet.
Wallowing – Earth Reaper
Genre: Doom/sludge metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Intimidating in its noise-tinged, percussive assault on the senses, this doom-tempo, sinister sludge album is a bit of an cosmic horror experience.
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, do feel free to express yourself in the comments section below.
The Metal Dispatch 