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This is a week of aggression – all out brutal, laden with attitude, dripping with venom and infectious. Pick your poison.

Aftermath – No Time To Waste

Genre: Hardcore/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5

Deliberately ragtag thrash metal with a hardcore-styled, street prophet kind of purpose. Ideas come slightly before musical coherency on this one, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, and you still get plenty of punishing riff sections.

Anarkhon – Obiasot Dwybat Ptnotun

Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5

A doom-toned, deeply dark and menacing death metal album that’s content lurking in the abyss, taking the shadowy form of your deepest nightmares. The production is low -fi and grimy, which mostly work, but some heft is also lost.

Blind Oath – Blind Oath

Genre: Heavy/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5

Slightly amateur-level thrashy heavy metal that feels like it’s out of the early 80s and slightly influences by early black metal. With more tightness and speed and a better vocal delivery, this could absolutely be heading places.

Chelsea Grin – Suffer in Heaven

Genre: Deathcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 4/5

Another insanely heavy package of rhythmic, djent-powered and horrific-toned sonic punishment from this deathcore crew. It takes a hold of your cuff and shakes you as hard as the genre constraints allow, and then some. The instrumental work, while not particularly varied, is surprisingly nuanced, and the vocal approach offers more than a few shades of furious.

Contrarian – Sage Of Shekhinah

Genre: Technical/experimental death metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5

A hubbub of different tonal and rhythmic ideas that come off more messy than is probably intended. There is a freedom in the wildness of it, but at the expense of any sort of coherency.

Death Reich – Disharmony

Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5

Bread-and-butter thrashy death metal fueled by a suitable amount of aggression but not offering up the biggest grooves, or anything really new.

Desolate Realm – Legions

Genre: Doom/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5

Old school doom and heavy metal meet in this mid- to low tempo, classic-sounding offering. There’s nothing much that really stands out, but if you enjoy the mix of dark tone with old school riffing, then you’ll probably have a good time.

Downfall Of Gaia – Silhouettes Of Disgust

Genre: Atmospheric black/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5

Bittersweet in tone, luring you in with somber, melodic atmosphere then hitting hard with harsh black metal vitriol and some sludgy harmonic distain. It’s definitely something to get lost in a dark train of though to, if that is indeed something desirable.

Embryo – A Vivid Shade on Misery

Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5

Rather easy-to-follow melodeath with a symphonic kind of tone and some catchy riff work. It’s not the most engaging stuff you’ll hear this week, but makes for some accessible, groove and aggression.

Entropia – Total 

Genre: Progressive black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5

Deeply immersive, modern progressive black metal with mildly dissonant, industrial tendencies, but also a surprisingly warm and dreamy atmospheric side. Don’t get me wrong, it’ all suitably somber, but you don’t feel constantly submerged in murky, misanthropic bitterness. Instead, the further you get into the songs, them more layers peel apart and the band shows its willingness to expand into further levels of nuance. It’s as dark as you want, but also very vibrant.

Highlights: “Orbit” and “Mania”

Foretoken – Triumphs

Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5

A very tight and shreddy melodeath experience, with a tasteful sprinkling of dramatic bombast on top. It’s energetic and rousing, but not in a cheesy way, and the tone has a symphonic black metal edge to it. The instrumentation is masterful, with the rhythms managing a very pleasing balance between familiar and exploratory. It’s a real gift to fans of adventurous metal that’s still dark and aggressive.

Highlights: “Serpent King’s Venom” and “Demon Queller”.

Gideon – More Power. More Pain.

Genre: Hardcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5

Melodic and expansive hardcore with meaty riffs and a big production. It’s still aggressive as hell though, and brings a bit of deathcore breakdown brutality to the party. It’s hard not to get pulled along by the current of catchy rhythms and overflowing energy, and every time you think fatigue is going to become a factor, they pull you back in with some groovy hooks or nu-metal-ish ambience.

Highlights: “MORE POWER. MORE PAIN.” and “Off the Rails”.

Harboured – Harboured

Genre: Progressive/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5

A mildly anguished and pale-sounding, atmospheric progressive offering with heaviness leaning strongly into black metal. It’s a focused sound that wants to offer up melody as well as harshness, and the balance works well. It’s solid, yet doesn’t distinguish itself too much from others of its ilk.

Invent Animate – Heavener

Genre: Metalcore
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5

Melodic metalcore that leans heavily into djent, a bit of prog and sullen, silky-soft clean sections.

Kamelot – The Awakening

Genre: Power/symphonic metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5

With an edge of mysticism and gothic darkness, and a production honed to near perfection, Kamelot rises above the rank and file of the symphonic power metal world. The album starts strong with some snaking rhythms and a good balance between melody, aggression and lofty atmosphere, then relies a bit too heavily on old tricks for the second part. It’s still quality though.

Kruelty – Untopia

Genre: Death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5

A grimy, crusty-riffed and heavily beat-oriented return to the basics of what makes simple, engaging extreme metal. The tone is extremely focused and the rhythms designed with a very obvious purpose in mind – to make you commit to that primal feeling that gets your blood going. Beneath the rasping aggression there is the rumbling of a massive, doomy darkness, which provides some much needed depth. Combine it all, and you get a very complete and refined sound that doesn’t grow stale or overstay its welcome.

Highlights: “Burn the System” and “Untopia”.

Mordran – So Falls the Night

Genre: Atmospheric/avant-garde black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5

An instrumental atmospheric black metal experience that feels like it has fused with the sound of other records stored next to it in the basement where it was found post the apocalypse. It’s only slightly disturbing, adding a tasteful layer of noise and daring to go on jazzy, progressive tangents that might not do wonders for the energy, but fits in with the tone really well.

Mystic Circle – Erzdämon

Genre: Melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5

A big, mildly symphonic and aggressive black metal offering. There’s plenty of energy and dark folk melodies to power your way through the album, and it’s absolutely enjoyable. It’s just not particularly original.

Narnia – Ghost Town

Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5

This is 80’s-styled, catchy-riffed and synth-boosted power metal. You get some of the sexy guitar work of glam and otherwise very straightforward stuff in terms of melody and lyrics.

Night Demon – Outsider

Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5

A merry melding of the old school occult darkness of the likes of Black Sabbath and the galloping, exploratory instrumentation of Iron Maiden. It doesn’t sound old though, allowing the richness of a modern production, without overdoing it in any way. The vocal harmonization isn’t quite on point to my ears, and there are a few too many dips in intensity, but overall solid stuff.

Phantom Elite – Blue Blood

Genre: Symphonic/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5

Catchy, modern and big with a superficial darkness to it, this is a alternative/symphonic mix with a drop of groove aggression. Aside from the very pop-oriented structure and fairly glossy finish, there is some interesting instrumental work going on.

Redemption – I Am The Storm

Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5

This is progressive metal in its most classic, melodic form. As you might expect, the instrumental work is nothing short of outstanding, and the way the progressions wind and unwind on their wanton way towards their goal is absolutely entertaining. Just don’t expect anything that’ll push the genre forward.

Sepulcrum – Lamentation Of Immolated Souls

Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5

Morbid, horror-grade death metal with a suitably sharpened, stalking tone. There are some standout, chugging riffs and overall it feels fairly thematically consistent. It might not keep you up at night, but it’s a good bit of creepy fun.

Søstre – Søstre

Genre: Black n’ roll
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5

This one’s just a very good time. You get a feeling of the same kind of innovative, free-spirited approach as with Kvelertak. They do their thing and you are filled with confidence that the next thing out of your speakers will be enjoyable no matter what. It’s a great mix of rowdy energy, raspy black metal vocals, hard rock hooks and brilliantly varied rhythm work. It seems experimental not in a profound, genre-twisting way, but in the way that the band is exploring themes and techniques that work for them, while still crafting something that we can all get wild to together.

Highlights: “Jernskogmøy” and “Flokken”.

Stömb – Massive Disturbed Meta Art

Genre: Experimental/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5

As experimental albums go, this is less of a weird one and more just something not bound to a specific genre. You could call it prog if you want, but there are elements of many other things in here. It’s instrumental, darkly melodic and uses a lot of modern, djent-y guitar and rhythm work.

Suotana – Ounas I

Genre: Melodic death/black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5

A very recognizably Finnish dark melodeath project. The symphonic-infused melodies are very typically folky- and the guitar work is of course adventurous and stellar in quality. If you want to dream big, yet not overly optimistic, and be treated to some controlled, rousing aggression at the same time, look no further.

Temtris – Khaos Divine

Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5

A quite decent heavy metal offering with some thrash-ish aggression and groove to the riffs and a bit of Judas Priest-y attitude to the performances. It could have used a better production though, and the vocals don’t harmonize brilliantly with the instruments.

Úlfúð – Of Existential Distortion

Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5

Not quite your typical blackened death metal – this feels like it started out as something closer to pure, semi-melodic black metal, then decided it needed that extra level of brutality and focus. The result, in any case, is an album that doesn’t stray far from its core sound – this being a rough, relatively slow moving, yet relentlessly unstoppable push, like a massive boulder crashing down a never-ending mountainside.

Highlights: “Mockery Theatre” and “Leviathan Dreams”.

Verminous Serpent – The Malign Covenant

Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5

Malicious black metal sounding like the howls of a raging spirit. If all you want is black, dusty evil, then this is what you are looking for.

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.