-
Weekly rundown May 06 – 2022
A strong week for dark metal that strives to be a little different. Whether it’s doom, death or even metalcore, they’ve all embraced the shadows, then headed off in slightly unorthodox directions. Let’s see what they’ve come up with.
Aenimus – Sacrificial (EP)
Genre: Progressive/melodic deathcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A short EP to showcase an excellent range of technicality and musical skill. To me it feels like a sample, without much on an obvious theme to bind it together, but the playing is undeniably great. They score highest on the melodic parts, a little less on the brutal ones.
Battle Born – Battle Born
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 1/5
Objective rating: 2/5God damn, I hope this is supposed to be ironic, cause it’s quite possibly the most clichéd power metal that I’ve ever heard. Here’s an example of the lyrical genius on display:
He is fighting a metal war
That’s ’cause he’s a man of war
Strikes with the power of a dragon’s roar
That’s ’cause he’s a man of war
He is fighting a metal war
That’s ’cause he’s a man of war
Bend a knee, get on the floor
Bow down to the man of warI’ll give it one point for (unintentional?) comedy.
Black Eye – Black Eye
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 2/5Some rousing hard rock with an epic quality to it. It starts off well, then it quickly becomes obvious that vocalist and band aren’t quite… in tune.
Cosmic Putrefaction – Crepuscular Dirge For The Blessed Ones
Genre: Progressive/blackened death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Ready for a bludgeoning? This is a fairly chaotic one, but it comes with layers. Solemn, ambient tunes play in the background of wild beats and turbulent guitars. It’s only occasionally disharmonic, but there is still so much going on that it’s hard to get a hold of. It’s an experience though, and makes you appreciate the moments where they reign in the madness and present a wicked riff.
The Dark Overlords – Darkpocalypse (EP)
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5With a name like “The Dark Overlords” you kind of raise expectations from the get-go. And while it’s mot the almighty soundtrack to the apocalypse that you might hope for, it’s still a fairly impressive, albeit rough, effort. They serve up some tasty riffs and solos and have fun with the dark tone of it all.
Demonical – Mass Destroyer
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5While this runs dangerously close to a “run-of-the-mill”-label in the context of modern, evil-sounding death metal, they still manage to distinguish themselves in a few key areas. First of all, the production is fantastic – both crisp and full. Second of all, they’re not afraid of a good bit of groove. If you’re into bands like Endseeker, you should also dig this. So while they don’t score big on creativity, they do on entertainment value.
Elbow Deep – Homeschool Shooter
Genre: Death metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Over-the-top in its mock-offensiveness, this is primitively-produced, punky death metal that’s all about pushing buttons. Most of the lyrics and song titles are edgy just for the sake of it, and while there are a few hilarious ones, there’s also quite a bit of low-effort, juvenile stuff picking low hanging fruit.
Fozzy – Boombox
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5As catchy, accessible, modern heavy metal albums go, you can do a lot worse than this. The melodies aren’t offensively generic and there’s some decent groove going on.
Fuzz Meadows – Orange Sunshine
Genre: Instrumental psychedelic doom metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is an album that takes you places, and isn’t afraid to step on the gas pedal every now and then. There are some absolutely serene melodies on here, but also a fair dose of heaviness that edges into disharmonic territory at times for added contrast. I think they could have done without that last part, but that’s a matter of taste. Check out “Death Echo” and “You Are the Void”.
God Mother – Obeveklig
Genre: Hard/mathcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Ready to have your ears invaded by a swarm of pissed-off insects? That’s pretty much what this sounds like, and it’s pretty rad – if you’re into that sort of thing.
Halestorm – Back From The Dead
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5As anyone who’s familiar with this band would expect, this is BIG hard rock with ample catchiness and a decent portion of attitude. While it’s got some playful rhythms now and then and a good variation of rowdy intensity and melody, I can’t help but think that it’s a bit overproduced, and slightly predictable. Other that that, Lzzy’s voice is as awe-inspiring as ever.
Haunted By Silhouettes – No Man Isle
Genre: Melodic death metal/metalcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5This one leans heavily on the melodic side, while still favoring harsh vocals and some pretty heavy riffing. My main problem with it is that none of the melodies are particularly memorable. Add to that the fact that the rhythms are fairly straightforward, and you’ve got something non-distinct. It’s good, just lacks personality.
Haunter – Discarnate Ails
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Hold on, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride. This one moves up and down and back and forth, delivering a punishing beat and frantic guitars along the way. The effort is impressive, the result a little exhausting. The atmosphere is solidly ominous, so if you have a higher tolerance for dissonance and blast beats than me, you might really dig this.
I Am The Night – While the Gods Are Sleeping
Genre: Melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Brrr! This is some frosty ass black metal that’s in much more of a hurry than what the intro track might lead you to expect. While there’s not really anything on here that screams innovation, it’s solid all the way through. As mentioned, it’s mostly fast paced, with sneering guitars and melancholic, lofty melodies. Probably not for the kvlt fan who likes it low-fi and gritty, but also far from all-out symphonic. Give “I Am the Night” and “Hear Me ‘O Unmaker” a listen.
Ibaraki – Rashomon
Genre: Black metal/metalcore
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5First of all, I wouldn’t go in expecting a black metal album here. It’s much more in the realm of blackened, progressive metalcore with a sprinkling of traditional instruments. On the other hand, there is a lot less Trivium on here than I had feared. Not because I dislike Trivium (I’m a fan), but I wanted this to be different. And I really do believe you get the best of both worlds here. It’s undeniably dark, but it refuses to give wholeheartedly into black metal genre tropes, instead flirting with most every incarnation of the genre that exists today while still anchoring it in the songcrafting of someone used to reach a big audience. And that’s not meant to be a disparaging remark. It means that there’s a grandeur to it all, and the desire to make something genuinely grim and melancholic shines through. Try “Akumu” with Nergal and “Susanoo No Mikato” with Ihsahn.
Kaleidobolt – This One Simple Trick
Genre: Progressive/psychedelic hard/indie rock
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Get ready for a whacky one. Not as in silly, but as in it goes which ever way it damn pleases. It sways and stumbles, runs, skips and pauses. It’s also pretty chill and groovy at times. And it’s mostly guitar based, so you know it doesn’t get too zany. If that doesn’t sound too tiresome, you might have some real fun with this one.
Jani Liimatainen – My Father’s Son
Genre: Heavy/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5This is heavy metal of the soaring, near-symphonic kind, with elements of prog in the vein of Devin Townsend. It doesn’t exactly push any boundaries, but is well executed and has an aptly epic feel, without grossly overusing any clichés.
Lord Of The Lost – The Heartbeat Of The Devil
Genre: Gothic metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Some electronic-infused, big, melodic goth metal. It’s fairly accessible, almost forced in that respect, like they’re trying hard to expand their fan base. They still have an unique expression, and decent variation, so not too bad for a genre enthusiast.
Morgue Supplier – Inevitability
Genre: Experimental death metal/grindcore
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5This is one that seems to revel in its dissonance. Combined with its kind of metallic sound and reverb it conjures up a kind of torture chamber feel. It doesn’t give me much, but it you want your death metal to violate your eardrums, have at it.
Ou – One
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This, I think, is definitely one for the more hardcore prog enthusiasts. Or if you just want to experience something new. It’s a mix of odd time signatures, heavily synthesized atmosphere, prog riffs and ethereal vocals that sound like they were made for an entirely different style of music. I like that it’s exploring new territory, even though, musically, it’s not doing a ton for me.
Puppy – Pure Evil
Genre: Hard/punk rock/stoner metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5What do you get if you cross Smashing Pumpkins with Deftones and tell them to play doom? You guessed it. This one kind of wavers between just wanting to rock out and trying to convey something more substantial, and not landing squarely on either. You get a good deal of fun in the process though.
Silverstein – Misery Made Me
Genre: Hard/metalcore
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5An emo/hardcore thing that gets way too sappy for me, but is undeniably catchy and with some decent heavy parts.
Jeff Scott Soto – Complicated
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Hey, if you just want a dose of 80s sounding, melodic heavy metal without any sharp edges, you’ll probably have a good time with this one.
Syberia – Statement on Death
Genre: Instrumental atmospheric/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Feel like a good dose of dreamy melancholy? This one takes you on a trip with a thousand-yard stare, ever into the horizon, all the while the ups and downs in life pass you by as a dull ghost of an impression. If it wasn’t for the fact that most of the songs sound fairly similar I would definitely rate this higher.
Terror – Pain Into Power
Genre: Hardcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5It’s not every day you hear a sound as refined as this. This is razor sharp, straight-to-the-point, raging hardcore. They know when to speed up and when to get in a groove, and do a great job of weaponizing the rhythm to deliver key lyrics in a forceful manner. Ironically, I find myself enjoying the parts where they stray ever so slightly off the path and try a different flavor or two, which just goes to show I’m probably not in their target audience.
Three Days Grace – Explosions
Genre: Hard rock/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5This is one where I feel like my opinion will matter very little. Fans of the band will dig it and haters will, well… hate it. Objectively though, they’ve definitely made stronger stuff than this. But for people for whom this was a gateway band, this album should be a pleasant trip down memory lane without too much cringing involved.
This Is Oblivion – This Is Oblivion
Genre: Experimental metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Without looking too much into it, this definitely feels like a concept album. It has a modern poetry vibe to it, and doesn’t really land on a specific musical direction. It’s kind of a melancholic, meditative experience. Judging it as a metal production it could have been delivered with much more force, but for what it is it’s still interesting as a contemplative thought-provoker.
Tómarúm – Ash In Realms Of Stone Icons
Genre: Progressive black/death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Here we have some very suitably expansive black metal with atmospheric tendencies and a progressive streak. It gets quite technical and aggressive at times, leaning into death territory, but retains a cold, dark tone throughout. Even so, it dares to be lofty at times, almost hopeful, and will definitely appeal to fans of melodic extreme metal in general. They do a very good job of contrasting minimalist, acoustic parts with massive, aggressive onslaughts, and manage the transitions between the two beautifully. Listen to “Condemned to a Life of Grief” and “Where No Warmth Is Found”.
Tzompantli – Tlazcaltiliztli
Genre: Death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5This one just sounds like pure evil – like something that was crafted in a dark cavern as tribute to a horrible abomination. Furthermore, it sets itself apart with use of traditional instruments, particularly drums, that give it a very tribal feel – somewhat in the vein of early Sepultura. The riffs are absolutely crushing, the production is just right, and the growls are deep and threatening. It’s pretty much right on the money for how I want my death doom to sound. “Tlatzintilli” and “Tlazcaltiliztli” are two prime examples.
Ufomammut – Fenice
Genre: Doom/psychedelic/noise
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is very much a droning, aggro-psychedelic kind of experience for those who just want their minds invaded by subliminal messages, probably about the end of the world. To me it’s pretty unbearable.
Upon A Burning Body – Fury
Genre: Metal/death/hardcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5How about some heavy-ass metalcore with breadowns? This one is pure energy, definitely a good workout album. It’s got a bit of a Five Finger Death Punch vibe, minus most of the melodic elements but not the groove. So not one to push the envelope in any way, but absolutely to get fists pumping and heads banging. Give “Snake Eyes” and “Code of Honor” a go.
Vital Spirit – Still As The Night, Cold As The Wind
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Classic black metal with an epic flair. In my opinion they could have more wholeheartedly embraced this grand, somewhat folk-y leaning. Instead we get what I feel is an attempt to make something authentically black metal but with this other idea for a direction kind of tacked on. Others might disagree.
Windwaker – Love Language
Genre: Pop metal
Subjective rating: 0.5/5
Objective rating: 1/5They might as well just drop everything remotely heavy about this and embrace their already overwhelming poppy, boyband-y side. Cause it doesn’t appeal to a fiber of my metalhead sensibility.
Wo Fat – The Singularity
Genre: Stoner/doom metal/hard rock
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5A strong doom effort with a clear hard rock groove running all the way through, which really suits it. They take their time exploring melodies, and are proficient and thorough enough not to make it monotonous, only strengthening the identities of the songs. This exploration reminds me a bit of Mastodon, and while this is not as progressive in its approach, it still achieves a measure of the same confidence in the final output. Form your opinion with “The Snows of Banquo IV” and “The Singularity”.
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 29 – 2022
We’re back with the heavy this week! Plenty of new black- and death metal to dig into, as well as a good batch of weird shit. Oh, and new Rammstein and Watain!
Abhomine – Demonize Destroy Delete (EP)
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 1/5
Objective rating: 2/5I mean, there’s bad production and then there’s BAD production. I get that it’s probably (mostly) intentional, but this is just comical. Made it impossible for me to focus on anything else.
Beyond The Structure – Scrutiny
Genre: Technical death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5This is one of those tech death sounds that is so erratic in its approach that the overall impression that I get is one of stumbling around. There are a few instances where they find their footing, but not for long at a time. They’re clearly very proficient, but I find that too little of that goes into creating something actually coherent.
Child Bite / Black Rheno – Split (EP)
Genre: Progressive/hardcore/doom
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A short and sweet split EP with the first half (Child Bite) being a bit weird and chaotic, but still pretty entertaining, and the other half (Black Rheno) being much more aggressive blackened hardcore. It’s all on the dark side, and with good energy.
Crashdiet – Automaton
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5Some accessible, arena-oriented heavy metal that has enough thought behind it not to become completely generic. If you’re not one to break out in hives from ballads, you might like this.
Devil Master – Ecstasies Of Never Ending Night
Genre: Black/heavy metal/punk
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5A very well balanced effort of blending black ‘n roll with punk, and it’s not as straightforward as you might expect. They try a few different things on here, and successfully manifest this vintage-cult atmosphere that makes everything stand out. The production is just right, and they manage a mostly high tempo without giving into the temptation of just going nuts and making it too chaotic. They have some spooky-melodic parts that remind me a lot of Tribulation, and overall good variation in rhythm. Give “Acid Black Mass” and “Enamoured in the Throes of Death” a spin.
Dischordia – Triptych
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This death metal is disturbing not so much in its content, but in the way it approaches disharmony. It’s super chaotic and incorporates a lot of sheer random noises. If you like getting a feeling of unease from your metal, then I think they’re onto something interesting here. To me it sounds a bit like an engine breaking down.
Enragement – Atrocities
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Some furious, brutal modern death metal for you. The production is great, and allows for some crisp, raw guitars, to really make those riffs land. There’s also enough variation and dark melody to said riffs to please my need for a bit of variation, and although this is far from inventive, it goes a long way on entertainment value. Check out “Heavenly Inferno” and “Trade in Viscera”.
Helms Alee – Keep This Be The Way
Genre: Avant-garde sludge metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5I’ll be completely honest – this one goes way above my head. I don’t get much more out of it than a chuckle at the song titles. It’s too disharmonic, too wayward in the way it approaches structure and progress. It’s also not nearly serene enough to just get lost in. But the people behind it clearly had a vision, and it’s obvious from the concise tone and atmosphere.
Heriot – Profound Mortality
Genre: Death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5This one has a lot of what I’m looking for in a great death doom album. A creepy atmosphere, good transitions between brutal aggression and sullen trudging, and a production that doesn’t sound like it’s filtered through a concrete wall. The problem is that there’s too little of the good stuff on here. Half of the eight tracks are interludes. And I actually don’t mind the interludes, cause they add to the atmosphere, but it makes the album feel like an EP, and kind of an incomplete one at that.
Introtyl – Adfectus
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Some pretty classic death metal here, that I score lower because of some odd production choices. There is much less beef to support the riffs than I would have liked, and there seems to be a lot of metallic string noise included for some reason. Should still please genre fans, though.
Kaipa – Urskog
Genre: Progressive folk rock/metal
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Not only do you have to be a dedicated prog fan for this, but also not mind whimsical keyboard tunes driving a lot of the songs in place of a lead guitar. Or maybe it is just a highly processed guitar – who knows. All I know is that it’s not for me.
Lament Cityscape – A Darker Discharge
Genre: Industrial/noise metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is another one which, I’ll freely admit, I’m not nearly in tune enough with the subgenre to properly review. Everything is processed through a grating, static-y veil of digital compression, to create a very stark, artificial sound, that still goes very well with the industrial theme. And there are treasures in genuinely good songwriting behind that veil. It switches very gracefully from harsh to melodic, all the while maintaining a rock solid tone of expression throughout.
Lionsoul – A Pledge To Darkness
Genre: Heavy/power metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A modern, futuristic-themed heavy metal effort with power metal leanings, utilizing a few instrumental techniques from the more extreme end of the spectrum. The songwriting is still a little too generic for me.
Melvins & Dumb Numbers – Broken Pipe (EP)
Genre: Experimental sludge/punk
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Jump in for a bit of fun, why not? It’s a short one, where they play around with mixing space-y, tech-y atmosphere with straightforward rhythms and punky attitude.
Meyhnach – Miseria de profundis
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5Some low-fi, intentionally primitive black metal with a bit of a spooky thing going on. Nothing really special unless you’re looking for a specific fix.
No/Mas – Consume/Deny/Repent
Genre: Grindcore/thrash
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5If you know and like that Misery Index blend of raspy, rampant aggression and thrash groove, you should be up for this one. It gets through no less than 15 songs in under 22 minutes, so that should say something about how little regard should be paid each individual song in favor of the greater whole. This is not really new and fresh, though, and reminds me a lot of a hardcore album in the way it’s mainly focused on provoking a certain mood.
Pyrithe – Monuments To Impermanence
Genre: Atmospheric/progressive black metal/noise
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5A strong sense of foreboding prevails throughout. And a bunch of random shifts and twists in tone and intensity, of course. All with a distorting filter draped across.
Rammstein – Zeit
Genre: Industrial/heavy/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Just so it’s said – if you’re all about the heavy Rammstein songs, they’re mostly on the last half of the album. This time, the guys have embraced a slightly melancholy and 80s synth-infused sound, which is especially prevalent in the first half, which has some of the moodiest material I’ve heard from them in a good while. Like it or not, it’s at least not just a phone-in riff buffet. “Zeit” has a longing, epic quality which certainly expands my impression of what Rammstein should be. And then you have that good old, unbeatable mix of knockout punch and irreverent fun on the likes of “OK”. There’s a good balance of both on here.
Sacrilega – The Arcana Spear
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Some fairly solid blackened death metal that’s still in need of some maturing in order to carve out a niche and really own its expression. It works, but it’s not particularly characterful.
Slowtorch – The Machine Has Failed
Genre: Stoner metal/rock
Subjective rating: 2.5
Objective rating: 3/5This one actually has enough distinct flavor to it to stand out, it’s just not brilliantly executed. I like several isolated moments on here, but the band has a bit of a hard time binding them together into strong, complete songs.
The Spirit – Of Clarity and Galactic Structures
Genre: Progressive black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is blackened death with emphasis on the black metal, and a progressive sensibility towards songs structures. It’s fairly cold, but allows for some instrumental playfulness, and they have a slight spacey theme going on, which I think they could have incorporated much more into the atmosphere, but that might just be me. For fans of regular black metal, it might be best that they kept it free from too much experimentation. While it’s really solidly put together, it falls slightly short on distinctiveness for me.
Teufelsberg – Ordre du Diable
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5We’re heading straight for the root sound of that original second wave of Norwegian black metal here, with raw, primitive beats, a cold, thin sound and harsh, grating vocals. It has pretty much everything, which is why I find it a bit formulaic, But it’s certainly not bad.
Thorium – Danmark
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5An album that proves you don’t need all the bells and whistles in the world to make rock solid death metal. It might not be terribly sophisticated, have a super distinct atmosphere or display amazing, virtuoso musical skill, but it just entertains. Song after song after song. I love the production, and think there is just enough variety to make it interesting from start to finish. “Semen of the Devil” is one of my absolute favorite death metal songs of the year so far, and “The Silent Suffering” is a great example of how you make an instrumental interlude that still works as a song, and where the content matches the song title perfectly.
Tysondog – Midnight
Genre: Heavy/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5A batch of heavy metal with some thrash umph, but sadly a bit lacking in execution. It sounds alright, but a bit janky, and not particularly fresh.
Void Of Vision – Chronicles II: Heaven
Genre: Metalcore
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Some fairly heavily processed, typically modern sounding metalcore. Lots of electronic elements, a little too ballad-y in the soft bits, and the heavy bits are that one-dimensional, single-tone djent chugging that I tire very quickly of.
Vulcano – Stone Orange
Genre: Black/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A good bit of fun if you’re into unceremonious, fairly primitively produced blackened thrash. The songs are short and sweet, but there’s a bunch of them, so you get a wide selection to pick your favorites from. They could probably have trimmed a few songs off of here to allow the stronger ones to shine without too much distraction, but if you’re not going in for the most active listening experience, you’ll probably enjoy it from start to finish. “Ship of Dead” and “Night Terror With Satan” are good examples of what you get here.
Watain – The Agony & Ecstasy Of Watain
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 5/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5No matter what you expect going into this album, no matter the past of the band or the genre, this album just immediately grabs you and commands you to forget about all that, cause it no longer matters. Just hold on and trust that it’s gonna be a mind-blowing ride from start to finish, redefining what a black metal album can be. It’s dark, it’s complex, it’s catchy. The instrumental work is fantastic. After my first listening session I was honestly left speechless and in awe. Nearly every song on here is a nigh-on fucking masterpiece, and the fact that it’s so consistently great throughout should almost not be possible. Sure, I could have wanted even more punch in the final song to finish the album off with a bang, but that’s nitpicking, and I don’t need an album to be clinically perfect in order to give it top marks. If you’re still on the fence somehow, check out “The howling” and “Leper’s grace”.
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 22 – 2022
An undeniably strong week with releases once again spanning the full metal spectrum. Maybe not the richest bounty for the extreme metal enthusiasts, but apply a smidge of liberalism and you might find a couple of new favorites.
Audrey Horne – Devil’s Bell
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5I just gotta give this an extra push cause these guys are from my home town, but it’s not like this record doesn’t deserve it. This is some dirty, groovy hard rock with obvious heavy metal influences. If I’m to critique something it’s that the flow could be better at times, and certain riffs or melody lines should have been highlighted more in order to strengthen the identity of the songs. But there’s a lot to like on here, especially if you’re into guitars leading the charge and going on a trotting journey with just the right amount of tangents. Check out “Danse Macabre” and “From Darkness”.
Bodysnatcher – Bleed–Abide
Genre: Deathcore/nu metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Want some stompy deathcore that sound a bit like it was made with that “brutal hip hop” sensibility of those heaviest of the early nu metal bands? You sure gotta love a dominant rhythm section, cause this is one of those where the guitars are being used as percussive instruments. That ain’t my cup of tea, but I’m probably in the minority there. When the groove is allowed to shine through, that’s when I can dig this stuff, which is just often enough to hold on to my attention.
Caliban – Dystopia
Genre: Metalcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is aggressive, modern metalcore that makes up for some slightly poppy melodies around the cleaner parts with some heavy, djenty, deathcore-like riffing that isn’t too dissonant to kill the melodic progression. In other words, there’s plenty of headbang-ability on here, and the riffs actually serve as high points of the melody lines, rather than interruptions. It’s a fairly dark record without getting particularly moody, managing to keep the energy up mostly all the way though. The first half of the album is definitely stronger, but there are parts to enjoy all the way through. “Dystopia” and “Phantom Pain” would be two of my recommendations.
Coma Hole – Coma Hole
Genre: Stoner metal/sludge
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5These guys sound like they intended to break out of the box with this one, and they kind of succeed, but only just. There’s some great atmosphere on here, generated by long-stretched melodies, but for the most part they seem to cling too heavily to familiar subgenre traits, almost as if being tethered by a lifeline of familiarity was a way for them to not run too far astray. And it’s had a pretty limiting effect on the result.
Corpsessed – Succumb To Rot
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A pile of fresh, nasty death metal here. As far as instrumental quality goes, it’s excellent. But the dark melodies should have been allowed to come a bit more forward more of the time, and some of the riff progressions are a bit formulaic. If you’re just looking for a hit of brutality, you won’t go wrong with this one.
Cultic – Of Fire and Sorcery
Genre: Doom/death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5If you don’t mind the basement-production sound quality and every other song being an interlude, then you could definitely do worse than this looking for some mid-tempo death doom. A fairly distinct sound to go with the mystic theme – I just find it too monotonous.
Deathcave – II (EP)
Genre: Doom/black metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A little difficult to get a good impression from two songs (even though the runtime ends up at over twenty minutes), but they’ve got some good things going on here. It’s cold, intense, crushing, angry. I definitely prefer the higher tempo to go with the hardcore attitude rather than the doomy crawl that bogs down much of the first half.
Die Apokalyptischen Reiter – Wilde Kinder
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Some festival ready, head-bangable, modern heavy metal here. The songs vary quite a bit in heaviness – all the way from growling to ballads. The playing is solid, it just isn’t fresh or distinct enough to interest me.
Domkraft/Slomatics – Ascend/Descend (EP)
Genre: Doom metal/psychedelic
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5This is one for those who don’t mind their doom being a bit drawn out, with emphasis on atmosphere. Out of the two bands on this split, Domkraft is definitely more up my alley, producing more variation in speed and tone, and having more punch in their riffs.
Dorothy – Gifts From The Holy Ghost
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Hey, all you people out there who want to make catchy, uncomplicated hard rock – here’s proof you can still make it sound fresh. Granted, having a highly talented vocalist does help, but they also do a good job delivering hooks and melodies that don’t sound like they’ve just been recycled from their earlier releases. The rhythm work is tight, and ties everything together very neatly. It’s a little too poppy in tone and lyrical content for me, though.
False Church – Dystopian Dissent
Genre: Hardcore/grindcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5With a sub 20 minutes runtime and pretty much exactly the same beat on every song, this feels like one continuous bludgeoning, only occasionally and briefly interrupted. It’s solid though, with enough strategically placed breakdowns to keep your interest up.
Fer De Lance – The Hyperborean
Genre: Doom/folk/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5While there are some really good moments on here, the overall impression I get of this album is one of stylistic confusion. It’s rousing, then gloomy, mixes operatic vocals with blast beasts and tremolo, goes full folk ballad, then melodic black metal. Which could be entertaining, if they’d just had more success binding the different pieces together.
Freja – Tides
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is definitely black metal of the atmospheric variant, but it’s far from a sluggish thing. Even for the subgenre at large, this must be considered at least mid-tempo, and the fact that they still manage to load the sound so full of haunting melody is impressive, and much appreciated. Not revolutionary, but definitely high quality. Give “Cloaks of Valor” and “Scattered Shields” a listen.
Gadgets Sons – Gadgets Sons
Genre: Sludge/groove metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is my idea of a fun album. Not fun as in funny, but as in entertaining. They’ve got that Pantera love of groove and a strong, driving riff, with dirty vocals and a bit of hardcore attitude, then a bit of death metal brutality added. This isn’t quite Pantera level of songwriting, but I’ll take the spirit any day. If you’re a riff guy like me, I don’t see how you couldn’t like this. I recommend “Blasted” and “Perrrlka”.
A Good Rogering – Systematic Paralysis
Genre: Heavy metal/grunge/doom
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Ever wondered what kind of collaborations we’d get if just grunge and metal got along better? This one might hint at it. Okay, I might be exaggerating the whole grunge bit a smidge, but there are definitely traits in there, along with rock ‘n roll and a bit of doom. Sounds good on paper and does pretty well in reality too. I particularly like “Systematic Paralysis” and “Clones for Death”.
Kirk Hammett – Portals (EP)
Genre: Shred/folk/experimental
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is the kind of shred that I can get behind. Okay, nearly, but still. This is about more than just the guitar playing, though. It feels like storytelling. With guitar solos, of course. But it doesn’t get too lofty or bombastic.
Huntsmen – The Dying Pines (EP)
Genre: Doom metal/folk rock
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A very short EP for a quick fire review, but sticking to the one actual metal song on here, it’s a fireworks display of great riffs and rhythms, showcasing a band that works very well together. In that regard it brings to mind the likes of Mastodon. The rest is serene and acoustic.
Junction 28 – Before You Drown
Genre: Hard rock/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5Too polished and sugar frosted for my taste, it still has a dark streak and some aggressive riffing every now and then.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Omnium Gatherum
Genre: Psychedelic hard/indie rock
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Groovy, baby! This is a beautifully alive album that ebbs and flows, mixing lots of genres and tonal flavors. It’s a mammoth though, at 1 hour 20 minutes, and does kind of fizz out towards the end. If they’d just kept up the momentum all the way through, it would be approaching top score for me. As it is, there’s really not enough heavy on here to recommend it as a metal/hard rock album, but if you just want to chill and/or jump around to some spacey, upbeat psychedelic rock, have at it.
Märvel – Graces Came With Malice
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Some high energy, retro hard rock. Vocal style very much in the vein of Kiss, with some eagerly creative playing to go with it, that still feels pretty traditional. It’s undeniably fun, maybe a little one-dimensional in tone for my taste, but filled to the brim with great playing.
Mein Kopf ist ein Brutaler Ort – Ton Steine Sterben
Genre: Thrash/metalcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Some pretty straightforward un-melodic metalcore with thrash leanings. Uncomplicated headbanging material that I’m sure would be fun at a festival.
Mirror – The Day Bastard Leaders Die
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5A theatrical vocal performance and thin, overly galloping overall sound brings this one low for me, even as I appreciate some great solos and the occult theme.
Miseration – Black Miracles and Dark Wonders
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5As much as I’d like to give this a recommendation, it falls just short for me for one main reason: they too rarely seem to find a good, raw riff to settle on for a bit of good old headbang-ability. The brutal parts always seem to be frantic, and when they do settle on a steady pace, it’s usually on the slow, grandiose, melodic bits, which just kills the momentum. If they learn to combine the melody and brutality a little better I have huge hope for these guys, cause pretty much everything else works great.
Mosiac – Heimatspuk
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5If it wasn’t for the guitars sounding like they were recorded through a phone call, I might be able to appreciate this a lot more, cause they really have something interesting going on with the German folk elements on here.
Northlane – Obsidian
Genre: Progressive/metalcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 4/5While this really isn’t my kind of thing, I wonder if this isn’t one the best gateway albums for modern extreme progressive (djent) metal that I’ve heard. It’s got a dark streak to it, a catchy electronic groove, and doesn’t get too soft and sugary in the clean parts. It sounds matured, and well thought out.
Novarupta – Carrion Movements
Genre: Instrumental doom metal/ambient
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5These kind of albums lend themselves terribly to my review style, but here goes. This isn’t quite funeral doom, cause it’s not that gloomy. More grandiose and cinematic while still retaining a somber tone throughout. It’s still very slow though, and I don’t really find it interesting enough for an active listening experience. You might very well disagree.
Ocean Grove – Up In The Air Forever
Genre: Hard rock/modern heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Some fairly accessible hard rock with a shot of metal heaviness and some LA punk sensibility running throughout.
Primus – Conspiranoid (EP)
Genre: Experimental (hard) rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5What do you want from me? It’s weird. The bass is great. It’s just like I expect you want it to be.
Pyreship – Light Is A Barrier
Genre: Progressive doom/sludge
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A doom record that tries a few things instrumentally, but ends up feeling gloomy in an entirely joyless way no matter which way it pulls or flows.
Radiant – Written By Life
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 1/5
Objective rating: 2/5Ballady hard rock with, generic, anthemic lyrics? I shall politely decline.
Serpentshrine – Allegiance To The Myth
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Very clear-cut black metal of the thin, cold, intentionally-badly-produced kind that dares to be a little vulnerable and dreamlike in its melodies. Wouldn’t have minded more of that.
Skull Fist – Paid In Full
Genre: Heavy/speed metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Speedy heavy metal brimming with enthusiasm and musical skill. The vocals are just right for me, and the guitars strike a great balance between playful and gritty. I’d have loved a bit more heft and rawness, but it’s also pretty clear that these guys know what they like, and I’m not gonna mess with that. Cause man, do they do it in style – unashamedly riding that knife’s edge between cliché and utter genre confidence, and with a glint in their eyes at that. I’m seriously having problems picking just two songs to recommend, but why not “Blackout” and “Long Live the Fist”.
Somali Yacht Club – The Space
Genre: Atmospheric doom/stoner
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Now for something serene. Slow down and flow along with the moody, beautiful melodies. The production allows the instruments to drive the music, making it feel stripped down and honest. It seems to me that you can drop in at pretty much any moment and enjoy it equally. Which speaks to the strong songwriting. Give “Obscurum” and “Pulsar” a shot.
Speckmann Project – Fiends Of Emptiness
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A real piece of caveman death metal here, which I usually can get wholeheartedly behind, but I’m not a big fan of this one. Fairly weak production, the riffs feel mostly uninspired and the vocals are not great. There are some tasty moments here and there, though.
Static Abyss – Labyrinth Of Veins
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Now this is more like it. This is sullen, grimy death metal that still has some anger to it. The songs slip in and out of a doom tempo, and every now and then kicks into high gear with chugging riffs and pummeling drums. It’s pretty cool, but could also need a bit of tonal variation.
Stone Broken – Revelation
Genre: Melodic metal
Subjective rating: 0.5/5
Objective rating: 1/5The best part of this is certainly the band name, cause it does make me want to break a stone on the head of whoever wrote these songs. I usually try to be at least a little diplomatic, but this really is ultra generic drivel.
Tygers Of Pan Tang – A New Heartbeat
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5They don’t really try hard enough for this to be much more than a trip down memory lane, I’m afraid. I guess the production is nice and modern.
Tyrannus – Unslayable
Genre: Black/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5What I first figured to be pretty straighforward blackened thrash, but they take these trips into spacey, progressive territory every now and then. It’s interesting, and makes them stand out, but doesn’t blend as well as it could with the more traditional parts.
Undeath – It’s Time… To Rise From The Grave
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5This is very straight-to-the-point, morbid death metal. And while I don’t think it gets off to the best of starts with the first two songs on here, the guys really hit their stride from there on out. Their big strength in my opinion is being able to balance the more chaotic parts (of which there are plenty) well with the parts where they settle down to more of a chugging grind, and making the transitions between the two seamless. I would want the guitars to be even clearer and crisper in the mix, but that’s a stylistic choice that I can’t really blame anyone for. Check out “Rise From the Grave” and “Bone Wrought”.
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 15 – 2022
What to say about this week? You get a bit of everything. Not all of it great, but there’s solid variation throughout, and some real highlights within subgenres that I normally don’t get too hyped about, so that’s cool.
Abstracted – Atma Conflux
Genre: Progressive death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Starting the week off with a flurry of technical musicianship. This is definitely tech death, but with the odd, unpredictable rhythms of prog. Unfortunately, I find that much of the sense of progression is lost as the melodies and grooves are constantly cut short in favor of clever tempo shifts. A little too prog for prog’s sake.
Aevum – Glitch
Genre: Symphonic/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5This one sounds a little different to your average symphonic album. It’s edgier. Not all in a good way, but still. Unfortunately, the mix is a little weird and the melodies could definitely be stronger – they get a bit lost behind electronic effects, and don’t really match up too well with what the vocals and guitars are doing. Still, check out if you think a slight twist to the genre sounds interesting.
Alunah – Strange Machine
Genre: Stoner/doom metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5While this is in no way a reinvention of the wheel – for a doomy stoner record this thing is a riot! The rhythm is upbeat more often than not, the riffs are cool and inventive and the vocals dare to go beyond muffled shoegaze. The production is uncharacteristically clean, although, don’t worry, the guitars are still suitably fuzzy. There’s just a real sense of the band having had the desire to make something slightly different and fresh, and it paid off. Check out “Over the Hills” and “The Earth Spins”.
Atoll – Prepuce (EP)
Genre: Brutal death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5You like your death metal fun and reeeally guttural? This one’s for you. These guys clearly don’t take themselves too seriously with titles like “Molotov Cock Tease”, and the music is pretty much what you’d expect. The production is good, the drumming is real intense and the riffs are pummeling.
Cancer Bats – Psychic Jailbreak
Genre: Hardcore/groove metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5The Bats are back! And they’ve brought a new batch of groovy, rowdy hardcore with them. To me, they’re at their best when the pace is up and they’re serving riffs of different flavors with a sense of urgency. I lose a slight bit of interest in the middle section, where I don’t find that the song identities are at they strongest, but there’s still a good collection of really cool material on here overall. Fans should definitely be pleased.
Darkher – The Buried Storm
Genre: Folk/doom metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5There isn’t all that much to go on when reviewing this as a metal record, which is why my subjective score will be a bit lower. The vocals and melodies on here are darkly enchanting, so if you like getting lost in funeral doom, you’ll probably like this. To me it gets a little too mellow in parts, and they could have boosted the intensity of the few heavy parts to create a more dramatic contrast to the rest.
DeVicious – Black Heart
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 2/5Feels like a 80s action TV show soundtrack, and not really off anything particularly memorable.
Dreariness – Before We Vanish
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A black metal record that really seems to revel in the misery it presents. I don’t think there’s a single part on here not draped in melancholy. Which works up to a point, then gets a little repetitive, especially with the harshly anguished vocals. Some good melodies on here, though, and definitely a concept that could do with further development.
Egregore – The Word Of His Law
Genre: Experimental black/doom metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5Definitely too weird or chaotic for me most of the time, which is too bad, cause they have some parts I really enjoy on here that creates a great mood from the mix of evil-sounding guitar riffs and solemn chants and melodies.
Faceless Entity – The Great Anguish Of Rapture
Genre: Technical death/black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Some noise-distorted, slow black metal to bring on a real sense of hopelessness. A little too monotonous in tone for my taste, but will probably find listeners among black metal specialists.
Grayscale Season – Do You Like Violence
Genre: Alternative metal-/hardcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5This is fairly typical rhythm-driven, metalcore-inspired, moody modern metal. The djent-y guitars get far too dominating for my taste, overriding melody and bringing a staccato progression that really doesn’t mix all too well with the rest. But then I might just be getting old and bitterly blasting whatever the kids like these days.
Greyhaven – This Bright And Beautiful World
Genre: Progressive hard-/metalcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5An at times chaotic, at times melodic, semi-aggressive hardcore record with a progressive spin. They try a few different things on here, while not getting too experimental. To me there’s not all that much character, at least not outside the more mellow bits. But if you’re already a fan I think this will present itself as a well crafted pleaser.
Hostilities – NØ COWARDS
Genre: Hardcore
Subjective rating: 0/5
Objective rating: 3/5As always, I give an automatic 0 rating to bands pointlessly using the letter “ø” in place of “o” in their titles. It’s an ignorant hipster fad move from people who don’t realize that “Ø” is an actual Scandinavian letter, and correctly pronouncing it when misused like this makes your band/record/song title sound fucking ridiculous. The music is fine – fairly tiresome, aggressive hardcore.
Imminent Sonic Destruction – The Sun Will Always Set
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5For all the tempo- and mood shifts, different instruments and vocal styles on display here, there’s something fundamental lacking from this progressive effort. And that, I think, is a strong, singular idea behind the compositions. The melodies are often lackluster, and the heavier parts fall a bit flat without a proper buildup or backup by all the elements that they have at their disposal. Still, some cool parts here and there.
Limousine Beach – Limousine Beach
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Some really good-natured-sounding retro hard rock here to put you in a carefree mood. A lot of these songs are pretty classic and a bit unimaginative in their sound, but there are some strong ones as well, and enough character to forgive some slightly less than stellar musical performances.
Mano De Mono – Chameleon Tongue
Genre: Stoner/hard rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Fairly clean and energetic for a stoner record, this still retains most of the stylistic hallmarks of that subgenre. To be honest, a great deal of it sounds a lot like Stone Temple Pilots, and not just because of the vocal style (which is my least favorite part). A genre pleaser, to be sure. A little too unmemorable otherwise.
Nazareth – Surviving The Law
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5This was a positive surprise for me, as I went in expecting a phone-in. But they definitely try a few different things on here, taking the freshness rating up a marked notch. If you like classic, slightly sleazy-sounding hard rock flirting with blues, I think you could do a whole lot worse than this.
Monuments – In Stasis
Genre: Progressive metalcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Here’s a progressive record where they get it right. The move between different tempos and tones feels seamless, and the overall sound very organic as a result. It’s bippin’ and boppin’ kind of metalcore with fairly soft clean vocals to go with the harsh ones, which doesn’t work for me, but probably won’t bother a lot of others. There’s good grooves, great melodies and speed executed with excellent technical deftness.
Månegarm – Ynglingaättens Öde
Genre: Folk/black ‘n roll
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is not your average blackened folk metal, but rather something much more tongue in cheek and rowdy. There are definitely some cold riffs and raspy screams on here, but with a refreshing influx of punky attitude. The melodies are very typical Scandinavian folk, but take on a different dimension as they’re treated with a mixture of empathy and irreverence. Try “Auns söner” and “Stridsgalten”.
Patterns of Decay – Patterns of Decay
Genre: Melodic death metal/metalcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5These guys don’t do themselves any favors by putting – in my opinion – most all of the strongest songs on the back half of the album. The first few songs feel a bit more experimental, and, maybe as a result, less stylistically confident. Then, with “Seven Seconds”, I feel like we shift into high gear and these guys show of what they really can do, both in terms of intensity and technical consistency. “Of Famine and Plague” is another stellar example here, bringing tight grooves and a suitable level of aggression. With a bit more maturity, these guys might very well put together something truly epic.
Qaalm – Resilience & Despair
Genre: Funeral doom/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Difficult to review at the pace that I’m doing it, my relatively speedy impression of this is still that there’s actually too little atmosphere on this. They don’t quite manage to transport me to that far away place I need to go to in order to really appreciate this kind of thing. Some of the heavy parts feel a little dragged out. The tone is pretty consistently creepy, though.
Axel Rudi Pell – Lost XXIII
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5I can’t really abide this kind of formulaic and stagnant approach to music, but for people who just want more of the same, It’ll probably do the job. Bonus point for a touch of NWOBHM flair thrown in there.
Poison Rose – Little Bang Theory
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 1/5
Objective rating: 2/5Take what I said in the review above and detract most of the redeeming features, and you’ve got this.
Powerglove – Flawless Victory
Genre: Heavy/symphonic metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A video game themed metal album that mostly sounds like it’s the soundtrack to a musical. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. There are some tasty solos on this, and a fairly wide tone spectrum. A fun palate cleanser, even if you don’t have a ton of interest in gaming.
Psychostick – …And Stuff
Genre: Comedy metal
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5I dunno… I find a lot of death metal much funnier than this. And most of this album hardly works as actual music. But if you like to sit and listen to the lyrics, enjoy random humor and don’t want to take the music too seriously, then you might have a really good time.
Semblant – Vermilion EcLipse
Genre: Goth/symphonic/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A band that’s trying to be a few too many things at once, I think. There’s simple, symphonic melodies driving heavy industrial riffs and all kids of different vocal styles vying for attention. The big songs get too accessible for me, and the smaller ones lack focus.
Stone Broken – Revelation
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 1/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5To me, this is boy band pop disguised as rock music. Pretty generic in most every way.
Trace Amount – Anti Body Language
Genre: Avant-garde industrial metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5An eerie, darkly electronic experience, like something emerging from the underground of some techno-dystopian society. I like the attitude and tone it projects, I’m just having a hard time getting behind it musically.
Vanderlust– Vanderlust
Genre: Heavy/power metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5This one came as a surprise to me. Some genuinely excellent instrumental work on here, and great songwriting, that harkens back to the raw enthusiasm and exploratory spirit of NWOBHM and that early era of pushing the scope of metal music. These guys still have some maturing to do, but they’re off to a fantastic start. They’re pushing a spacey theme, with just a hint of prog in the approach to structure and rhythm, and it all adds up to a decent amount of character. “3 Suns” and “Ten Years Back” are just two of many tasty treats on here.
Viande – L’abime dévore les âmes
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Some dark death metal as we near the end of the week. This is not the kind of stuff you go to for variation – at a sample, much of this sounds fairly similar throughout. But they go into enough of a grim groove in certain parts, breaking up the hammering drums, that upon an active listen, you do find enough reason to keep going.
A Wilhelm Scream – Lose Your Delusion
Genre: Melodic/progressive hardcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 4/5A record bursting with energy and creativity, this one works both on a musical- and purely entertainment level. For me, there’s too much “college rock” in the vocal style and some of the melodies, so I go from impressed nodding to amused grinning to displeased grimacing every few seconds. But if you’re more in tune with the lighter side of hardcore and punk rock, there’s a ton to like on here.
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 below.
-
Weekly rundown April 08 – 2022
This week’s rundown should get out in time for Easter, so happy Easter! Not the strongest week for me, this, if I’m honest, but there are indeed a few very notable exceptions. See for yourself.
A Deer A Horse – Grind
Genre: Alternative metal/grunge
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5A pretty bleak and rough sounding thing, this, which is, no doubt at all, the idea. Dissonant melodies with repetitive riffs and vocals shifting between a hardcore and doomy style. Really not my kind of thing, but definitely something for those into experimental punk and hardcore.
Angel Nation – Antares
Genre: Symphonic metal
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 2/5Expect little more than fairly generic symphonic metal here. Furthermore, the vocal’s don’t really seen to harmonize all that well with the melodies. A quick skip for me.
Bjørn Riis – Everything To Everyone
Genre: Atmospheric prog metal/-rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5A very mellow experience, which I’m hard pressed to call metal. But there’s an undeniable beauty in the tranquil melodies. Definitely check out if you’re looking for something serene with a mild, guitar driven core.
Black Swan – Generation Mind
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2/5As generic hard rock albums go, this isn’t too shabby. The lyrics are, as expected, pretty cringeworthy in their simplicity, but there’s just enough of a hint of grit on this to elevate it slightly.
Deathrite – Delirium
Genre: Blackened death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5This is death metal of the slower, eerie kind. Sometimes it feels almost ritual in purpose. But it’s too stagnant for me, like it’s stuck in the same gear throughout.
Decasia – An Endless Feast For Hyenas
Genre: Psychedelic/progressive rock
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5There are a few highlights on this with some fresh guitar shredding, but they do get bogged down a little too often with mumbling vocals and melodies that don’t really go anywhere and/or are drowned by the bass guitar.
Destruction – Diabolical
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This gets the final bump up to a recommendation simply based on the fact that I hear far too little thrash these days that I actually thoroughly enjoy. And that’s a shame, cause I can really dig good thrash. To me, it represents the very core of what I’m looking for in metal. And these guys know how to bring it. The playing is tight, there is good tempo variation between songs, and the tone is sinister enough that the whole thing doesn’t feel too flippant. I’m a particular fan of “State of Apathy” and “Repent Your Sins”.
End Boss – They Seek My Head
Genre: Sludge/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5It might just be me, but I feel like they don’t hit their stride until about halfway through this one. Everything seems to work better from there on out – the melodies are more defined, the vocals harmonize better and the riffs get groovier. Still not the most distinctive record out this week, but far from bad.
Face The Legacy – Ashes on the Grounds
Genre: Heavy metal/metalcore
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 2/5If simple rhythms, gang vocals, accessible melodies and a few tasty riffs is enough to float your boat, then you’ll probably enjoy this. For the rest of us it’s a pretty easy skip.
First Signal – Closer To The Edge
Genre: Hard rock/AOR
Subjective rating: 0.5/5
Objective rating: 1/5I actually wasn’t aware that hard rock got this sappy. Michael Bolton called – he’s feeling a little queasy.
Fortune – Level Ground
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 1/5
Objective rating: 1.5/5What the hell is up with the letter F this week? Does it stand for “fuck it, let’s just do things like we’ve always done”? That’s what this one feels like, in case that wasn’t clear.
Fright – Fright (ep)
Genre: Hardcore/early black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5A great album cover on this one, and the music ain’t half bad either. Very to the point mix of hardcore and 1st wave of black metal, at least to my ears. The songs are short, and it’s an EP, so it’s over in a heartbeat, a bit too short to form a solid opinion.
Heidra – To Hell Or Kingdom Come
Genre: Folk/power metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Here we’ve got some folk metal of the melodeath variant, but with added bombast courtesy of a strong injection of power metal. Which works better than I thought it would, but towards the end of the album I start to seriously tire of the rousing choruses where you can just picture the vocalist theatrically raising his gaze and a trembling fist towards the heavens. Which is a shame, cause there are a few really strong songs on here.
Heterogeneous Andead – Chaotic Fragments
Genre: Death/symphonic metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is at its core a very cool concept for a death metal variation. The aggressive riffs come alive in a whole new way with a fairy dust sprinkling of peppy synth, and the guitar and drum work is adventurous and impressively performed. Unfortunately, I simply cannot overlook the fact that the guy doing the harsh vocals sound like he started his first vocal lessons an hour ago, and the female operatic vocals are comically out of place. Make an instrumental version and I’ll give it an easy 4/5.
Hällas – Isle Of Wisdom
Genre: Progressive/hard rock/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Some very mild mannered prog rock with classic metal tendencies. It somehow manages to marry the typical gallop of “adventure bound” heavy metal and flowing, free-spirited melodies, which makes this very rewarding music to sit and pay attention to. Certainly a palate cleanser compared to what I normally listen to, but I don’t mind that at all. “The Inner Chamber” and “Gallivants (Of Space)” are two of my favorites.
Incite – Wake Up Dead
Genre: Thrash/groove metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Goddamn! This is a pretty ferocious album from start to finish. They handle the groove/thrash balance brilliantly, and even manage to sneak in a bit of atmosphere. On certain songs their influences are pretty obvious; Devil Driver, Sepultura, Pantera and Lamb of God, to name some of the more obvious ones. But there’s never any doubt that it’s the same band playing, so it all ends up adding to the overall flavor. This is a riff fest all the way through, which, when it has this level of groove, I just don’t tire of. Check out “Stagnant” and “Mental Destruction” as samples, or just let the whole thing rip. I’d be shocked if you regret it.
King Satan – Occult Spiritual Anarchy
Genre: Industrial/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5I feel like if Behemoth suddenly decided to go all out “clown metal”, this would be the result. It’s unholy, but in a pretty silly way, and very catchy. My main reservation would be the band’s over-reliance on fairly heavy-handed synth work to drive the melodies. For those more into industrial, this might be more palatable, but for me it’s too dominant.
Egor Lappo – Naturealism
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5As far as progressive metal albums go, this is a pretty relaxing one. The melodies are Devin Townsend-style happy-ish and the vocal style very pleasant. The tone and content does get a little to poppy for me at times, but the compositions are still mostly very strong, so if you fancy a trip to the lighter side I’d say go for it with this one.
Lux Incerta – Dark Odyssey
Genre: Melodic death metal/doom
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Ooooh, this hits a real sweet spot for me. At its core it’s melodeath not too far removed from Amorphis, but with the somberness turned up to 11, so ends up stretching into Paradise Lost-territory. Actually, if you loved the latter band’s latest album, Obsidian, I think you’ll be equally stoked about this one. The songs are long, but the melodies are powerful, and the reward for your patience is some riffs and solos that’ll make your spine tingle. Jump into “Farewell” and “Far Beyond the Black Skies” and tell me I’m wrong.
My Hollow – Fighting The Monsters (EP)
Genre: Melodic death metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5I enjoy parts of this a great deal – it’s got some cool rhythms and groovy riffs. But I’m on the fence about the hardcore-style vocals, and the melodies aren’t exactly what I’d call fresh. If you like melodeath then it might be completely subjective whether you dig this one or not.
No Tin Godz – No Tin Godz
Genre: Heavy/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Oddly, I’m having a bit of a hard time putting into words what I feel about this one. It’s a pretty simple sounding thing, mixing heavy-, alternative-, and nu metal with a hard rock approach. Yet, the end result is somehow a bit more than the sum of its parts. Not revolutionary in any way, but definitely a step above what I expected.
Papa Roach – Ego Trip
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5I never listened much to Papa Roach, but did they always sound like a slightly heavier version of Fall Out Boy?
Joe Satriani – The Elephants of Mars
Genre: Shred/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 4/5If you feel like going on a spacey journey accompanied by some rock solid shredding, then strap in. For me it’s a little too laid back and quirky to be truly engaging, but I certainly can’t ignore the craftmanship involved here.
Tome of the Unreplenished – Earthbound
Genre: Atmospheric black/doom metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Sometimes music just takes you to a place you didn’t know you wanted to go. This one does that to me, simply by the tone of the melodies, and the band allowing those melodies to shine through for extended periods of time, even as the lyrics, guitars and drums change in intensity over them. Listen to “Tryst at the Gales of Cyprus” and “Astraios Ayr”, and see if they don’t take you to those places as well.
Theigns & Thralls – Theigns & Thralls
Genre: Folk rock/metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A big chunk of this is not too far removed from your typical Irish drinking-punk-rock, but quite a bit cleaner and with a medieval spin on it. There are also a few heavier and faster bits, but they’re used rather sparingly, and are pretty hit and miss as far as fitting in with the mood of the song, or even the album.
Treat – The Endgame
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 2/5Simple melodies, simple rhythms, simple lyrics. Some great guitar solos, but that doesn’t redeem this in my eyes. There are one or two songs with a faint whiff of attitude, but the rest is very polished, production-line serenading.
Vermörd – Nostalgic Predictions
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5This feels like a black metal band that decided to shift in a decidedly death metal direction, rather than the other way around. The drums are very busy on here, and the guitars rarely settle into a groove or lasting melody, which kind of kills the song identity and sense of progression for me. There’s lots of highly competent playing and it’s suitably angry. I just feel like looking for a defining characteristic is like trying to keep track of a single ant on the surface of a hive.
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 below.
-
Weekly rundown March 25 – 2022
We march steadily towards the end of the month and greet the last batch of heavy releases. Onwards!
8 Kalacas – Fronteras
Genre: Hardcore/ska/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5At its worst, this is just run of the mill ska with Spanish lyrics, but at its best it’s a fantastic fusion of celebration and aggression as the upbeat brass meets chugging strings. It’s not your average listening experience, and if you like hardcore and thrash you should definitely check this out. “Pudrete” and “Garras” are two good samples.
Abbath – Dread Reaver
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5For some reason it seems unnatural to expect something this fresh from someone as established as Abbath. And yet. This can best be described as a massive record, both in terms of the sheer relentlessness and confidence it projects and also in terms of it being packed to the brim with… sound. There’s just so much of it – layers upon layers, and yet the wall of sound never becomes overwhelming. Everything is clear and distinct, allowing all of the solidly composed shifts and turns to shine in all their grim glory. This is a masterclass in balancing tradition, variation, aggression and playfulness. Pretty much everything on here is excellent, but I will pick “Septentrion” and “Dream Cull” as my favorites.
Absent In Body – Plague God
Genre: Sludge/atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This one nails the crypt mood. It’s grim, musky, and mostly sets a crawling pace. It’s too slow and subdued for me, but should strike a good balance for death doom and black metal fans.
Animals As Leaders – Parrhesia
Genre: Instrumental progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5If you’re the type of person who likes to surrender to the apparent wild whims of technical progressive musicianship, then this is one for you. It’s a very kind of elastic, vivid kind of listening experience, with something new happening every few seconds. To me it’s just a tad too soulless to really get into on a long term basis.
Bâ’a – Egrégore
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Some chilly black metal with epic leanings. I think they could have gone further down the melancholic, epic path, but they still have a fairly distinct tone and vocal style. I would love to see these guys evolving their sound further.
BillyBio – Leaders And Liars
Genre: Heavy/groove metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5These guys would be great at a tiny, sweaty venue with a suitably inebriated crowd. For everything else I think this is a bit too rudimentary.
Black-Out Arises – Oneself
Genre: Grunge/rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5I think these guys have the right idea for a sometimes garage-, sometimes arena oriented rock and grunge meld. Unfortunately, most of it it feels too uninspired to leave a lasting mark for me.
Bloodgate – Solace In Mourning
Genre: Death/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5These guys have a great tone going that reminds me of both Black Dahlia Murder and thrashy Slayer. It starts off really well, then unfortunately turns into a bit of a shambles for the main body of the album, killing much of the crushing groove I feel like it was building up to.
Bomber – Nocturnal Creatures
Genre: Heavy metal/classic hard rock
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This one charmed me just enough to sneak in for a recommendation. It usually takes quite a bit to convince me that a retro hard rock/heavy metal sound is worthwhile, but these guys pretty much nail it tone wise. I will say, however that particularly the mid-album songs are a little bland and ballad-y, but the likes of “Zarathustra” and “Fever Eyes” make up for it.
Crown Of Madness – The Void EP
Genre: Technical death/black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A blackened variant of technical death metal sounds like a good idea, and I think these guys are on to something here. They’re definitely competent enough to handle the technical bit, but unfortunately, the music feels pretty stagnant to me, like it’s lacking direction. Keep working on it.
Crown Magnetar – Alone In Death EP
Genre: Deathcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Feel like a medium dose of serious deathcore brutality? I’d check out this EP. It has enough of a death metal twin personality to attract people of that camp (like me), and doesn’t get too silly with the gutter growls or breakdowns. It has some serious technicality to it, while also being rooted in a modicum of sinister melody. I highly enjoy “Pain of Existence” and “Graverot”.
Crystal Viper – The Last Axeman
Genre: Heavy/power metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Nothing wrong with the sound on this one if you really dig the classic power/heavy/speed niche. For me it’s too formulaic.
Day of Departure – Day of Departure
Genre: Ambient/gothic/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5This album feels experimental in the sense that .the band is searching for a coherent path to take. There are some beautiful melodies and compositions on here for a laid back experience, but it could be better matched with the vocals and heavier guitar based parts.
Desert Clouds – Planexit
Genre: Grunge/stoner metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A pretty solid full length debut, this is a good mix of Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age, and a few others of their ilk. They sound best when they’re at their most unique, like on the title track, and they deal well with tempo and mood shifts. Some more maturing, and this gang could get seriously interesting.
Desolate Shrine – Fires Of The Dying World
Genre: Blackened death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5This is some mostly low tempo, grim death metal for when you want a wash of hopelessness. There are some more typical, angry death metal parts on here, but they’re not allowed to last for long.
Dream Widow (Foo Fighters) – Dream Widow
Genre: Death metal/hard rock
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is one tasty bag of mixed treats from Dave Grohl and the other Fighters. And yes, I’d say it qualifies as a full-on death metal album. There’s more than enough personality behind this that even the most straightforward death metal songs on here don’t end up formulaic. There’s absolutely a sense of the creator(s) looking in on the genre from the outside, but that doesn’t stop them from making all the right moves, and very successfully blending the brutal stuff with groovy hard rock, grunge, and even some old school industrial metal. Entertaining through and through. “Cold” and “Lacrimus dei Ebrius” might be my favorites.
Eucharist – I Am The Void
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5There are some solid, somber melodies lurking in the background, but the rest feels repetitive and stubborn to me, and not in a good way.
Falls Of Rauros – Key to a Vanishing Future
Genre: Black/folk metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is a solemn one, without getting all out depressing. The melodies are big and haunting, and get balanced out well by the harsh vocals and more intense musical bits. What doesn’t work for me are the parts where they (seem to) experiment with disharmony and odd rhythms. It’s like the music suddenly takes a stumble and takes some time to correct itself.
Hardcore Superstar – Abrakadabra
Genre: Hard rock/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 1/5
Objective rating: 2/5This is pretty damn cookie-cutter. I might even go so far as to call it square, but that would distinguish it from the classic cookie cutter shapes, and it really isn’t that special.
Heltekvad – Morgenrødens Helvedesherre
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5As miserable black metal albums go, this is pretty anguished. The sound is fairly traditional, and should go down well with black metal purists, but they slow things down every now and then for some tremolo melodies that drapes a layer of lamenting over all the aggression.
Hilltops Are For Dreamers – In Disbelief
Genre: Progressive gothic/metalcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This one has a good balance between melody, aggressiveness and odd tempo shifts. It feels emotionally driven, which secures an overall coherence, but it can get a bit much at times, when the vocal style drifts into emo-metalcore territory.
Ignite – Ignite
Genre: Hardcore/punk rock
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Clearly inspired by the likes of Rise Against, calling this hardcore is a bit of a stretch. There’s plenty of energy, but largely trades aggression for accessibility.
Kontusion – Kontusion (EP)
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Some dirty, cavernous death metal where the vocals really only function as a mood booster. Some spooky synth adds to the atmosphere, which I think is this EP’s strongest suit.
Lucifer’s Child/Mystifier – Under Satan’s Wrath (Split)
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5You get a good mix of flavors on this split, without the whole thing feeling too disjointed when we switch bands halfway through. They both meet at melodic, modern black metal, but each offer a confident, distinguishable variant to the core subgenre. Lucifer’s Child adds death and a bit of doom, while Mystifier has chosen a colder, more speed-influenced path. The end result is entertaining and varied, with some great melodies and enough successful subgenre blending to appease fans across a relatively broad spectrum. Check out “Under Inhumane Evil Spells” and “Nova Tenebris” for a sample of each band.
Luzifer – Iron Shackles
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5If you like medieval-inspired, classic heavy metal with emphasis on fun, and with a splash of occultism, this is one for you. I find the vocals a bit lackluster, but this is a great palate cleanser if your usual music consumption consists of the more extreme.
Nightwraith – Offering
Genre: Black/death/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5You get pretty much the whole spectrum of dark metal on this one. Black, gothic, classic melodic death, folk and doom, and it’s all tied together with fairly straightforward heavy metal rhythms and structures. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it fun, but it’s definitely entertaining, and doesn’t feel nearly as schizophrenic as I’m probably making it sound here. The vocals are perhaps a little one-dimensional compared to the instrumental output, even thought they do shift between black metal high and death metal low. “Hedonic Adaptation” and “The Great Acceleration” are two highlights among several.
Nite – Voices Of The Kronian Moon
Genre: Black/heavy/doom metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5This one is not too far removed from the Nightwraith album, but leans more heavily on the classic heavy metal side. The vocals are raspy, yet has some depth behind them, and fit the mood very well. Even though this is fairly lively for a blackened record, it retains a definite air of austerity throughout, which makes the melodies seem all the more sincere. “Acheron” and “The Trident” are two highlights, but I could have easily picked two more.
Paleface – Fear And Dagger
Genre: Hard-/deathcore/nu metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Fucking hell this sounds pissed off. This is early Slipknot downtuned and leaning all the way into simplistic, stomping rhythms. Which stops them going all-out chaotic, and rather embracing the pounding, full-body-headbanging hardcore style of the likes of Hatebreed. If you missed Corey Taylor scream-rapping and manically heaving for breath in between every other word, then this should bring you tons of nostalgic joy. There are quite a few songs on here, and they don’t sound all that dissimilar, but check out “Dead Man’s Diary” for a good summation of what this is all about.
Pist.On – Cold World (EP)
Genre: Doom/atmospheric black/folk metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Some groovy riffs and licks here and there, unfortunately undermined by some odd melodic and vocal choices.
Reckless Love – Turborider
Genre: Heavy/glam metal/electronic pop
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5This is very poppy and polished stuff, but also undeniably fun. I can see this sliding neatly into a lot of people’s guilty pleasures list. The retro electronica and extremely playful solos raise the experience significantly.
Michael Romeo – War Of The Worlds, Part 2
Genre: Symphonic/alternative metal/shred
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Some dark symphonic metal with a strong “Avenged Sevenfold goes power metal” kind of vibe. If that sounds like something for you, then this probably is. There are elements of shred and prog on here as well, which makes the overall impression a bit oversaturated.
Soul Glo – Diaspora Problems
Genre: Hardcore/experimental
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5This is way too all over the place for my taste, but these guys clearly have a strong idea of their sound and concept. If batshit nutty with attitude sounds like music to you, then dig in.
Spiral Skies – Death Is But A Door
Genre: Psychedelic/doom
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A mild mannered, moody collection of psychedelic hard rock. The vocals are absolutely competent, but fairly typical for the genre, and the guitarwork muted. If understated is what you’re looking for in your doomy retro hard rock, then I’d recommend this.
Stricken – From A Well Of Emptiness, A Stygian Serpent Born
Genre: Blackened sludge/doom metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5If you like your sludge tough and with an air of the occult, this one’s for you. Not for me though, too slow and repetitive.
Sundowning – In The Light Of Defeat, I Cease To Exist
Genre: Atmospheric hardcore/death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5An album that’s heavy with despair and melancholy. It shifts between melodic and dissonant, heavy and soft(ish). It doesn’t float my boat, but will surely a lot of others’.
Svartsot – Kumbi
Genre: Folk/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5This is full-on Scandinavian folk metal with playful, upbeat melodies, but with enough of a melodeath edge to keep it from getting too silly. It gets me in a good mood and has me nodding my head, but has enough depth that it can’t be dismissed as “drinking metal”.
Witchpit – The Weight Of Death
Genre: Stoner/sludge
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Some real rowdy stoner stuff with enough of a doom vibe to bring to mind classic Sabbath. The flow isn’t too great, but then I don’t think it’s really supposed to be. It’s unpolished and probably quite proud of 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 below.
-
Weekly rundown March 11 – 2022
As spring starts to set in, let’s see what’s poking out of the snow in the world of metal.
AngelMaker – Sanctum
Genre: Deathcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Full disclosure: I’m not the biggest deathcore fan. I think there are a few too many tropes involved, and not ones that I actively enjoy. So when this album started off with “Slaughter”, which to me sound’s like a computer’s idea of modern death metal mixed with a deathcore vocalist’s generic practice track, I was ready to pass early judgment. However, things do improve. They manage to sneak in some melodic and grimly epic moments, without ever being in risk of leaving the subgenre. There are still a bit too many brutal-for-the-sake-of-brutality-moments on here for me, but they have enough here to stand out.
Arkaik – Labyrinth of Hungry Ghosts
Genre: Technical death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5As to be expected, these guys are in a bit of a hurry. But in a way that sounds excitedly erratic rather than the result of a red bull overdose. Also, for the most part, the frantic solos fit in with the overall melodies and atmosphere, rather than just being filler shred fests for the sake of variation and shoving their technical prowess in your face. It may be a little too clean for some death metal fans, but to me it’s an excellent display of super tight musical performances, while still having them serve the higher purpose of distinctive songwriting. “To Summon Amoria” and “The Orphion Descent” are two of my favoriutes.
Bastard – Rotten Blood
Genre: Thrash/black n’ roll
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5There’s more than enough Motörhead in here to make me excited about the spirit of Lemmy living on as inspiration to newer bands. Like with Motörhead, this feels pretty uncompromising in its expression, which doesn’t make for the most varied listening experience. But there’s tons of energy in here, and everything just sounds right. “Whipstrike” and “Spellbound” are a couple of my favorites.
Dead Lord – Dystopia
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Looking for some playful hard rock for a sunny day, kind of like The Hellacopters but with the retro dial cranked all the way up? Look no further.
Dog Fashion Disco – Cult Classic
Genre: Alternative/avantgarde metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5To me this sounds like Rivers of Nihil decided to suddenly veer off down the silly path. This is a fun listen that asks for more than just your peripheral attention. Musically it doesn’t quite interest me enough for a top shelf score, but it’s still definitely a release to take note of.
Drug Church – Hygiene
Genre: Hardcore/indie rock
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A good mix of the coarse, straighforward approach of hardcore and more emotional, freeform ways of good indie rock. There’s a lot of familiar sounds in here, and a few moments where the genre collision takes us into slightly experimental territory.
E-L-R – Vexier
Genre: Ambient doom/folk metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Beautiful, longing melodies, sometimes mournful sometimes epic. For me it’s a bit too dragged out, but if you don’t find the occasional blast beats too disturbing, this is a good album to lose track of time over.
Ghost – Impera
Genre: Hard rock/doom metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Ghost was always “uplifting” for a doomy, occult hard rock band, and that’s part of what makes them special – singing about devil worship like it’s a joyous thing. On IMPERA, we can safely remove the quotation marks from the uplifting. This is an energetic album which sounds like it takes a lot of influences from 80s pop, and also prog rock a bit. It’s pretty accessible, but if you don’t mind Ghost trying new things and would be happy for a heavier album than Prequelle (and a bit less morbid) then I don’t see why you wouldn’t enjoy this. “Twenties” would be my choice for the strongest song on here.
Haunted Shores – Void
Genre: Progressive/technical death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is an instrumental album, which is a new one for me in this genre. Normally the lack of vocals leaves the music too directionless for me to really get into it, but this somehow still manages to keep me interested all the way through. It constantly shifts and tries new things, without sounding erratic or incoherent. That feat alone is deserving of a recommendation, but I also really enjoy the overall tone and groove. It’s heavy yet playful, epic, dark and has great momentum for being a progressive album. Check out “Hellfire” and “Immaterial”.
Idol of Fear – Trespasser
Genre: Black/gothic metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5An album that seems to revel in its misery. It’s mostly mid-tempo and slightly understated, leaning ever so slightly into Tribulation-territory. I can see this absolutely nailing someone’s taste in dark music, but not mine.
Konvent – Call Down The Sun
Genre: Doom/blackened death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5If you’re all about the mood and looking for something really dark, but don’t want the absolute slow crawl and weirdness of atmospheric black metal, then this is for you. These guys have found their own little micro brand of death doom. Unfortunately it’s too monotonous for this guy.
Messa – Close
Genre: Doom metal/experimental
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Lots of gloomy stuff in a row here, but this one’s a bit different. Much of it falls pretty comfortably within doom, but they play with lots of other elements as well. There’s a good deal of traditional instruments in what feels like different kinds of folk music styles, some heavier, angry bits and some very soulful, melodic parts that can comfortably lean on the beautiful vocals. Try “Dark Horse” and “Serving Him” for two fairly contrasting examples of the sound on here.
New Horizon – Gate Of The Gods
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Some grandiose, riffy power metal that manages to keep the cheesy to a tolerable level. It’s in no way inventive, but quite entertaining, with enough strong instrumental performances to keep a non-subgenre fan interested for more than a few seconds.
Oddland – Vermilion
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5I wouldn’t call this unimaginative, but I still feel like I’ve heard it before, and for me the slow and more intense parts are way too divergent. This requires a different kind of patience than the one I’m equipped with.
Purple Dawn – Peace & Doom Session Vol. II
Genre: Doom/stoner
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Kind of exactly what I expected when I first put it on, and with no real surprises along the way. Some nice, fuzzy riffs and psychedelic groove. Well crafted without a huge amount of character.
Rust N’ Rage – One For The Road
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 1/5
Objective rating: 2/5I turned this one off after about 20 seconds of sampling. Very bland, sing-along stuff. Slight plus for a mild sea shanty kind of vibe.
Shaman’s Harvest – Rebelator
Genre: Hard rock/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 0.5/5
Objective rating: 1.5/5If you think you’re not gonna immediately lose me with unironic use of autotuned vocals, think again.
Syk – Pyramiden
Genre: Progressive metal/djent
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 4/5To me this falls somewhere in between Meshuggah and Björk, which is bound to be a prime love/hate territory. It’s artistically solid, but not for me – too dissonant and with no clear direction. Try if you wish Jinjer would take a more experimental route and drop the harsh vocals.
Vanir – Sagas
Genre: Folk/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3/5This ticks too many of my boxes for what I’m looking for in metal not to drop a recommendation. It’s fun and melodic while still retaining enough death/black metal grit to pack a punch. I would describe it as a good mix of Amon Amarth and Mors Principium Est, so don’t expect to much originality. This is fist pumping drinking metal for those who don’t need power metal or Irish punk rock in their lives. “Eindriði” is a good example of what you’re getting here.
The Violent – The Violent
Genre: Rock/alternative
Subjective rating: 1/5
Objective rating: 2/5A throwback to mid-2000s “hard” rock with a bit of “edge”. That edge is sanded down and polished enough that it’s hardly even a feature at this point, though.
Wolves At The Gate – Eulogies
Genre: Metalcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Some classic, yet modern-sounding metalcore that doesn’t get too sappy in the clean parts for me to write it off completely, but a lot of the songs on here are still kind of sing-along-y. The heavy bits are good, there’s just not enough of them on here.
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 below.
-
Weekly rundown February 04 – 2022
February starting off with what looks like a mixed goodie bag and a few titles I’m really looking forward to sinking my ear teeth into. Let’s see if they deliver.
Abhoria – Abhoria
Genre: Black/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Great way to start the week! This is just my kind of black metal, taken a couple of steps in a melodeath direction. Bit of anger, bit of brutality, bit of epicness, all layered with a frosty coat of black metal misanthropy. Not all of the tracks are as good, but “False Idols” and “Sunless” stand out for me.
Abysmal Dawn – Nightmare Frontier EP
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is barely even an EP, but I’ll let it slide. The one new track is not exactly my favorite style of death metal, but it’s obviously quality stuff. I’m more a fan of the re-recording, and the cover of “Behind Space” makes me really miss old In Flames.
Bevar Sea – The Timeless Zone
Genre: Heavy/stoner metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5It’s mid-tempo trotting heavy metal with a spacy stoner vibe and some vocals that sound overly strained, to the point where it’s a little distracting.
Beyond The Styx – Sentence
Genre: Hardcore/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5This is certainly no reinvention of the wheel, but some nicely aggressive hardcore driven by thrash – sometimes death – riffs and rhythms. Should be good workout music.
Cold Night For Alligators – The Hindsight Notes
Genre: Alternative metal/indie rock
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5This is a weird cross for me. Several of the songs start off as fairly mellow indie rock, even leaning into electronica and pop, then transition into heavier sections of hard rock and metal. Unfortunately, the latter parts are the ones I like the least, with the vocal style touching on emo, and the riffs feel a little uninspired.
The Final Sleep – Vessels of Grief
Genre: Progressive/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3/5This is an interesting one. I’ve heard plenty of good progressive death metal before, but this is sort of the other way around, as in prog first and death second. So… brutalized prog metal? Deadened? Deathified? Murdered? Anyway, there’s also some black and groove in here, which makes for a varied listening experience, and they manage to avoid a lot of the big prog tropes. The album as a whole doesn’t come off sounding the most cohesive, or stylistically confident, but I still enjoy each “bite” of the experience.
Golgothan – Leech
Genre: Death metal/deathcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Some real mucusy vocals on top of modern death metal flirting with prog and black n’ roll. Some of it is pretty run-of-the-mill, but there are enough highlights here to elevate the overall experience. For me it gets better from “Parent Organism” (which might be my favorite track) and on. A solid effort that should please fans of both death metal and deathcore, but also run the risk of falling in between two chairs.
Grimentity – DSM-5. The New Chapter
Genre: Death metal/grindcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Although this isn’t my cup of tea, I want to commend the effort. It’s punishing stuff, but very tight and technically competent, with enough rhythm variations to make it interesting, at least in the context of this particular subgenre.
(hed) PE – Califas Worldwide
Genre: Rap metal/industrial/reggea
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5What to say about this one? There’s a lot of different things happening across the album’s 20 tracks and certainly not all of it can be considered metal. There’s hiphop, reggea, r&b, punk and hardcore, with some alternative- and industrial metal bringing the heavy on select tracks. If you feel like a mixed bag, then dig in.
Korn – Requiem
Genre: Alternative/nu metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3/5There’s something comforting about leaning into the audial flow of a sound as familiar as that of Korn. There’s very little to disrupt that flow on this album, which is great if you’re just looking for a fix. It’s not that it feels stale or worn, just safe. I’ve honestly never thought that Korn had the most distinguishable songs, so I would appreciate their albums more or less as one continuous groove. Which I feel you absolutely get here. It is perhaps overly mellow, and I’m probably being too generous with my rating, but there are very few things on here that make me not want to listen to it.
Krvvla – X
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Some bleak ass black metal with death leanings. There’s not a great deal of tonal variety to be found here. Good thing about that is if you really like one song, then you should like all of them.
Mass Worship – Portal Tombs
Genre: Death/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Some very aggressive death metal that sounds like it’s on the precipice of several different subgenres. There’s doom, prog, black, hardcore, even math. In a way it reminds me of early Meshuggah, without fully committing to the strictness of that style. I enjoy the more atmospheric parts, but they’re in a little too short supply for me to fully embrace this endeavor.
Mystic Circle – Mystic Circle
Genre: Melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5I don’t exactly know how serious these guys want us to take their music, but for me it feels like a power metal band that suddenly decided to go all out black metal, and has the same sort of formulaic approach to the subgenre. The result feels more than a bit tacky.
Obsidian Sea – Pathos
Genre: Doom metal/hard rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5To call this doom is actually a bit of a stretch, cause this feels mostly upbeat. It has some of that doom tone, but peps it up with oldschool hard rock and a touch of psychedelia spaciness. There are actually a few Queens of the Stone Age moments in here, but overall it’s a bit too sedate for me.
Persefone – Metanoia
Genre: Progressive/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is really my kind of prog metal. If you have the patience for a few lengthy buildups and the (more than) occasional instrumental tangent, you’ll be rewarded with a vibrant, melodic experience bolstered by some tech death aggression and technical prowess. What they don’t do is get completely stuck in instrumental masturbation. There are smaller and bigger journeys in here, with clear goals and a unifying tone. “Katabasis” and “Architecture of the I” are just two of several highlights.
Rolo Tomassi – Where Myth Becomes Memory
Genre: Progressive metal/mathcore/electronic rock
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5I won’t try too hard to describe all the different musical influences in here, because I’ll probably leave a discouraging impression of something terribly disjointed. Which this somehow really isn’t. Sure, there are some extreme mood swings, but trust me, it’s all part of the plan. There’s a longing beauty lingering throughout, even through the heaviest parts, so when it slows way down, it just feels like an organic change of pace. If the melodies had dared to soar a bit more at certain points it would make for an even grander experience, which is one of the very few things I have to criticize.
Saxon – Carpe Diem
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5I feel like there’s not much more to say than – you know what you’re getting. Some epic-sounding, oldschool NWOBHM. I would rate it above average, but the vocal style of Saxon has never really worked for me, and still doesn’t.
Seremonia – Neonlusifer
Genre: Psychedelic stoner/doom metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Some psychedelic stoner that sounds – perhaps with the exclusion of the vocals – like it’s being played in the basement below you. If you’re a fan of – or at least don’t mind – low-fi production, then you might have some fun with this.
Thorn – Yawning Depths
Genre: Death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Plus for an album cover perfectly matching the title, in context of the sound within. Which is a bit too monotonous for me, but if you like your death metal pummeling to be a crushing grind rather than a revving jackhammer, this might be for you.
Trauma Field – From Wounded Soil
Genre: Folk/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Not the strongest stylistically, and steps off the gas for extended periods of time, but I sense potential here.
Venom Prison – Erebos
Genre: Death/groove metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5You gotta love when a band successfully expands their sound without losing the core that they’ve built themselves up on. There’s still plenty of that fury that caught my attention on their last record, but now with added groove, playfulness and panache. I don’t think they’ve quite found that unique signature just yet, but this album stands as a very entertaining step on their journey there. Lots of great songs here, but for a good demonstration of the variation in here try “Judges of the Underworld” and “Comfort of Complicity”.
Vorga – Striving Toward Oblivion
Genre: Melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5If you like modern, well produced black metal, and don’t mind it taking on a sense of epic scale without becoming symphonic, then I’d say this is for you. Very few black metal tropes at all on this one, sometimes it’s more akin to bleak melodic death. But it’s stylistically confident, and doesn’t get bogged down with unnecessary concept gimmicks. “Disgust” might be my favorite track.
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 below.
-
Weekly rundown January 28 – 2022
Can January end it with a bang(er)? (Sorry)
Aegrus – The Carnal Temples (EP)
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is just a solid effort. Black’n roll riffs on top of a sinister, folk-y vibe, interspersed with classic Black Metal blast beats and shrill screams. There’s an epic quality to it as well, with melancholic melodies lending each track the gravitas to stand on their own. Plus for a cover that sort of reminds me of a certain scene in Midsommar. If you enjoy the likes of Wormwitch, this is really for you.
Amoth – The Hour Of The Wolf
Genre: Heavy/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5I normally don’t really go for this sort of vocal style, but there’s enough variation in it that I can focus on the good parts where it really suits the music. This is some fast paced heavy metal with enough playful chops and tempo variation that it crosses into progressive territory. With chuggy riffing and tasty licks aplenty, and a cool classic horror-themed cover, this just about secures a recommendation.
AngelBlast – Throne Of Ashes (EP)
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Suitably angry and sinister, it’s a successful subgenre blend. If there was more songs like these two on the record, it would be an easy recommend. But there’s just not enough material for me to work with. Check it out as a teaser for (hopefully) more to come.
Atrox Trauma – On The Line Of Nothing And Something
Genre: Thrash/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5This is for you (like me) who actually liked Testament’s period of flirting with death metal. Vader-esque vocals on top of thrashy riffs that lean in a very Slayer direction every now and then. Just wish there was a bit more variation and thought put into the lyrics and song structures.
Benthik Zone – εἴδωλον
Genre: Atmospheric/avantgarde black metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5Doesn’t work for me, but they put some thought into this. Vocals are miles back in the mix and the rest of the instruments kind of melt together and take the back seat to the highly processed, prolonged melodies up front.
Burned In Effigy – Rex Mortem
Genre: Neoclassical/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Black Dahlia Murder vibes, anyone? Well, not quite, but there’s enough of the musical elements that I enjoy about BDM in here with expanded focus on melody and mixed with the virtuosic fun that made Children of Bodom one of my favorite bands. My only real complaint is a certain lack of brutality – something to contrast the melodies, maybe a touch of that Fleshgod Apocalypse madness. Still, a really enjoyable listen.
Buzzard Canyon – Drunken Tales Of An Underachiever
Genre: Stoner/heavy garage rock
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 2/5The production completely ruins it for me, but there’s more problems on top. Disharmonic vocals, willfully amateurish performance for a pretty clunky overall result.
Celeste – Assassine(s)
Genre: Stoner/doom/shoegaze
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Blackened Gojira? Kinda, not really. This has, at its best, some great atmosphere to it, and very competent technical performances. But a fairly monotonous vocal style, and not a lot of structural variation beyond going hard-haunting-hard-haunting, brings this just shy of a recommendation.
Cloakroom – Dissolution Wave
Genre: Stoner/doom/shoegaze
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is a mellow one, although propelled by crunch-fuzzy slow riffing. I’ll save this to listen to while I work, but it probably won’t linger in my library. A bit too chilled out for my taste, but undeniably well crafted.
Crystal Ball – Crysteria
Genre: Hard rock/power metal
Subjective rating: 1/5
Objective rating: 1.5/5Eurovision dropout-level of creativity here.
Dark Meditation – Polluted Temples
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5This would be an easy recommendation if not for the vocals. I can see them trying to push the otherwise playful and fairly clean sound in a more proto-black metal direction, but don’t really nail it and end up in a disharmonic, rusty, low-energy borderland. Aside from that, this is some excellent dark heavy metal. Doesn’t rewrite the book or anything, but has plenty of variation and memorable melodies.
Dawn of Solace – Flames of Perdition
Genre: Gothic metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is good enough that I’ll probably give it a couple more listens later, but then probably forget it. The songs feel stretched and complacent, a little too comfortable dwelling on the same slow riff and melancholic melody for long stretches of time.
Dead Nexus – Becoming the Ancients
Genre: Death/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Just really messy, like it wasn’t planned properly before everyone started ripping into their instrument. Production also lets it down, with everything sounding slightly subdued.
Deathcult – Of Soil Unearthed
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is some bleak, old-school death metal that really nails the “welcome to hell” feeling that they set up with that album cover. Crunchy riffs that alternates between high speed shredding and slow doom. It’s not exactly fresh, but really confident in its style.
Death Shroud – Death, Slavery And The Pursuit Ov Sadness
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5These guys make an honest effort to marry their fairly run-of-the-mill black metal with some heavy metal speed and black’n roll groove, and largely succeeds. There’s just not a clear sense of a signature to the sound, but it holds potential for further development.
Depleted Uranium – Origins
Genre: Powerviolence
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5This is way outside my comfort zone, so if you’re the type of person who wants your music to repeatedly punch you in the face, this could be a 5/5 for you for all I know.
Detset – Vermeil
Genre: Hardcore/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5A rather strange, or interesting (depending on your point of view) blend of hardcore attitude and the more thoughtful parts of metalcore. Somehow it end up sounding a bit too straightforward for me, but if you just like some modern sounding metal bordering on hard rock with a touch of hardcore aggression, this is certainly not bad.
Dying Light – Far From Life
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5A band that sounds like it tries to borrow a bunch of signature sounds at the same time. There’s Alice in Chains, Metallica and several other tentpole influences in here, but the core of the music is nonetheless terribly uninspired and just fairly bland.
Earthless – Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons
Genre: Stoner/psychedelic
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5There are some sweet, sweet payoff riffs and licks to reward you getting through some long ass buildup, but to me it’s just a bit too little, too late, and gets a little monotonous and jammy. But hey, if that’s your jam…
Ectoplasma – Inferna Kabbalah
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3/5This is just too fun not to recommend, although you gotta be on board with the fairly amateuristic style, especially when it comes to the vocals. The riffs hop and gallop, the rhythm is tight, and the whole band just seems to revel in the mock-brutality of it all.
Freaks And Clowns – We Set The World On Fire
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Ever wondered what it’d sound like if Dr. Rockzo the rock n’ roll clown started a power metal band? This wouldn’t be far from it. A bit of Accept and Primal Fear with a touch of glam.
Gloves Off – Life…And Everything After
Genre: Hardcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Some solidly aggressive hardcore leaning ever so slightly in to blackened death metal. There’s not that much more to say about it, really.
Harpyie – Blutbann
Genre: Folk/symphonic metal
Subjective rating: 1/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Way too poppy for me, like a seriously softened Ensiferum flirting with the likes of Leaves’ Eyes.
Kraemer – All The Way
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 1/5
Objective rating: 1.5/5The kind of stuff that in my mind only exists to define the rock bottom of creativity.
Krosis – E.V.I.L.
Genre: Progressive deathcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Here’s some progressive deathcore that actually manages to convey a decent amount of forward momentum. That is, until they get stuck on not one, but two interludes. On an eight track album. It’s well crafted stuff, just not enough highlights to warrant a full recommendation.
Lana Lane – Neptune Blue
Genre: Prog rock/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5To me this is only progressive in the loosest sense of the word. It’s a pretty straightforward, happy-go-lucky sounding rock album with some heavy metal umph and proggy quirks every now and then. Not bad at all if you’re looking for a mild palate cleanser.
The Last Ten Seconds Of Life – The Last Ten Seconds Of Life
Genre: Deathcore/hardcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Suitably angry and stompy, and they try a few proggy tempo- and mood shifts here and there. It just lacks a a certain forward momentum and distinguishably fresh parts, which is honestly a problem I have with most of deathcore.
Lawnmower Deth – Blunt Cutters
Genre: Thrash metal/punk rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Hey, if I was a bit more into punk I’d probably be able to appreciate the humor in this more. It’s hilarious on paper, just nothing that interests me enough musically.
Mur – Cut the Rivers Vein
Genre: Doom/atmospheric black/folk metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5If you like your black metal/funeral doom not too gloomy (which I suppose is a bit of a contradiction) this might be something for you. It’s still driven by slow, haunting melodies, but also dares to sound hopeful in the parts that lean the most into folk territory.
Nasson – Scars
Genre: Progressive/power metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Unless my memory betrays me, I’ve never liked an album that has a plain photo of the band’s front figure on the cover, unless the person is clearly playing some sort of role and/or wears lots of facepaint, that is. There are probably a few exceptions, but if you think that your plain, unaltered face is somehow a good representation of the music that you play, and the lyrics aren’t strictly about you and your life, I’d say you have a bit of an inflated ego issue. Oh, and this album is pretty generic and cheesy.
Night Hag – Phantasmal Scourge
Genre: Death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5I feel, as a fan of death doom, with slight emphasis on the doom, you’re getting more or less exactly what you want here. It’s abysmal, slow and kind of filthy. Just don’t expect anything too unique.
Oculi Melancholiarum – Noche azul (EP)
Genre: Atmospheric black metal/ambient
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5The majority of this EP isn’t really black metal, just melancholic, ambient melodies. It’s beautifully sad, I just wish it blended better with the heavier parts.
Possessor – The Speed of Death (EP)
Genre: Sludge/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is cool, dirty thrash, that is just a tad too one-dimensional for a full recommendation. Also, as EPs go, this feels extremely short.
Praying Mantis – Katharsis
Genre: Heavy metal/AOR
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 2/5Nothing new here… But if you want a throwback to oldschool, radio friendly heavy metal, then by all means.
Rabid Dogs – Black Cowslip
Genre: Sludge/stoner/grindcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Some dirty, grindcore fueled sludge here, with a good bit of groove thrown in to balance it out. You get some great tempo variations, a delicious crunch to the riffs, and a mix of headbanging beats and all out aggression. Slows down a bit too much in parts, but not enough to kill the momentum. Big plus for harmonica.
Ravenous Death – Visions From The Netherworld
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Just a tad too chaotic for my taste, but if you like your death metal brutal, carvernous and evil, you shouldn’t go wrong with this one.
Sarcasm – Stellar Stream Obscured
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5With a fuller sound, I would almost certainly have enjoyed this even more. Some fast paced death metal to liven up the crypt. Surprisingly melodic, even playful in parts.
Sartori – Dragon’s Fire
Genre: Heavy/power metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Fist pumping heavy metal with medieval power metal flair. Not the best production, but it kind of suits it.
Spectral Dance – Crusaders of the Void
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5Cold, mostly mid tempo black metal with anguished vocals. Definitely something for genre fans, just not to my taste.
Steve Vai – Inviolate
Genre: Shred/prog
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 4/5As with pretty much any shred album, you’re kind of on a train to nowhere here. But at least there’s a genuine effort to make each song distinguishable, cause this is one playful record. If you’re the type of person who would happily sit through a 45 min solo session as long as there’s a bit of variation in there, this is all yours.
Stone House On Fire – Time Is A Razor
Genre: Prog/hard rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Retro hard rock that takes a few twists and turns. Leans into stoner territory every now and then. Feels contemplative somehow. It comes off as a bit directionless for me, but I think that’s a very subjective experience.
Tension – Decay
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Peppy heavy metal brought down by slightly tone deaf vocals.
Thumos – The Republic
Genre: Instrumental, atmospheric doom/black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5At times a meditative experience, a little too dwelling for me, but stylistically confident. They touch in on doom, black metal, folk and atmospheric rock, with moments of epic swells. Some of the instruments get a little crushed, even compressed, in the mix, which I suppose is to go with the whole post metal theme, and is perhaps the one detail that makes me skip over a recommendation.
Tine – Mergae Maris Profundi
Genre: Melodic death/black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3/5This is one of those cases where I think they nail the sound that your mind conjures up when first seeing the album cover. It’s epic, melodic, dark death metal made to be played in the halls of Neptune. The melodies aren’t the strongest, which is a shame, but they get a long way on atmosphere. I thought it cool enough for a shoutout, anyway.
Tormentor Tyrant – Tormentor Tyrant EP
Genre: Death metal/grindcore
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Some pretty damn aggressive death metal with enough groove to get my motor running. Brings to mind Misery Index, but dedicated to a more oldschool death metal sound and with more primitive production. It’s mostly unrelenting, but also very tight and cohesive, so doesn’t feel unnecessarily chaotic. These tracks are all bangers, but the title track gets a special mention from me. Also really dig the album cover. More please!
Toxpack – Zwanzig.Tausend.Volt
Genre: Heavy metal/hard rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Some fist pumping, punky hard rock that’s not averse to gearing into heavy metal every now and then. This is the kind of stuff that gets me in the drinking mood at festivals, rather than silly power- and party metal.
Vicious Knights – Alteration Through Possession
Genre: Thrash/death metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5A throwback to 80s and early 90s death and thrash, also as far as the production is concerned. Which is, honestly, not something that I see the point in. By all means, I don’t necessarily want my death metal to sound squeaky clean, but at least make it sound like it’s being played in the same room. When it seems more important to sound retro than to find a sound of your own, you lose me. But there’s some good stuff in here if you’re into this kind of thing.
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 below.
The Metal Dispatch 