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Weekly rundown September 27 – 2024
As we finish off September, get ready for a dozen shades of aggression – raw, fuming, raging, deranged, whacky and measured.
Adorior – Bleed On My Teeth
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5An untamed, mildly deranged sort of blackened death metal experience. It takes that raw, in-it-to-shock-you value of early Venom and ramps it up with some savage riffs and squeals. It’s not overly chaotic, but does feel a bit like it’s possessed, which is as it should be, as is that album cover.
Highlight: “Bleed on my Teeth”
Arkona – Stella Pandora
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Harsh, Polish black metal backed up by a thundering low end and piercing, melancholic tremolo melody that run straight through the tracks, carving out depth where there would otherwise be a fairly straightforward black metal approach. It’s not particularly complicated, but well produced and focused on the task at hand.
Highlight: “Prometeus”
Bewitcher – Spell Shock
Genre: Black/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is probably about as colorful as black metal can get before it cracks and gets silly. But even though this scores high on the fun factor, it doesn’t feel like it’s stretching any limits, cause these guys know what they’re doing. With the groove of Motörhead and melodic style of Kvelertak, the album is just a really good time, without trying to reinvent the formula.
Highlight: “Out Against The Law”
The Black Dahlia Murder – Servitude
Genre: Melodic/technical death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5It’s great to hear the guys back and ripping. This is tight, aggressive, suitably technical melodeath, and really just sounds like TBDM should sound. That being said, while certainly delivering the goods on paper, I’m not able to connect to this album. The melodic approach feels disjointed, like the rhythm elements rage on top of a slightly hollow, slightly aimless current of emotion.
Highlights: “Mammoth’s Hand”
Crypt Of Reason – Stargazer
Genre: Doom/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5An atmosphere-rich death-doom album that lives just on the flip side of the conventional, trying out progressive rhythms and the occasional touch of disharmony.
Cyborg Octopus – Bottom Feeder
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5I was pretty psyched about these guys’ last record, 2022’s “Between the Light and Air”, then went a little back on my assessment on later listens, finding it to be a bit too unhinged and stylistically all over the place. On this one, the band has matured, and their style seems a bit more refined. It’s still wild though – a vibrant mix of metalcore, thrash, deathcore and melodic prog, very much still in an experimental and playful mindset.
Highlight: “Afterburner”
Endonomos – Endonomos II – Enlightenment
Genre: Doom/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A patient, darkly minded death doom experience that feels like muttering forbidden incantations with your eyes closed, transporting your mind through barely visible corners of the abyss. It’s go some very strong, epic-natured melodies and a smooth, rich production.
Highlight: “Hostile”
Fâché – Violent Au Volant
Genre: Grindcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5The title of this album translates to “Violent Driving”, so this is basically… roadrage grindcore. Which is exactly what this sounds like. 35 songs that barely make up 23 minutes of runtime. It. Does. Not. Let. Up. Terrible production though.
Heriot – Devoured By The Mouth Of Hell
Genre: Sludge metal/deathcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is a beast of an album. Ominous-toned sludge that perfectly balances deep, doom-tempo malevolence and artillery-barrage deathcore. Some of the rhythms are straight up hardcore, but with the impact of falling boulders. There’s a great, crusty tone to the guitars as well, for that added feeling of corrosive brutality. They even manage to fit in some atmosphere.
Highlights: “Harm Sequence” and “At the Fortress Gate”
High Parasite – Forever We Burn
Genre: Gothic metal/rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Goth metal that tries both the groove-laden black ‘n’ roll-path as well as the more accessible hard rock route. It works well melodically, but it’s not original.
Ingurgitating Oblivion – Ontology Of Nought
Genre: Avant-garde/experimental death metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5This is gonna be my biggest divide between subjective and objective rating yet. It’s a nigh-on masterpiece of hair-raising chaos and dissonance. This is not a slow descent into madness – it straight up drops you into the raging maelstrom, which hungrily assaults you with a cacophony of impression, like getting a million fragments of your memory played back to you at once. Personally, I don’t know that I’ve ever had an album frustrate me this much. There’s absolutely nothing to hold on to, and even when I finally, slowly feel myself connecting to a song, it abruptly ends with two minutes of near-silence. But hey, it made me feel something. Strongly. This album is an immense achievement, and I never want to listen to it again.
Highlights: Find your own, I got nothing.
Marche Funèbre – After The Storm
Genre: Melodic death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5A death doom record with an inviting sort of sound, going slow and gloomy, yes, but also leaning into epic, folk-derived melody that brings to mind several Finnish contemporaries.
Obsidian Mantra – As We All Will
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Modern death metal out of Poland that, despite a depressive, black-leaning tone, hits you with loads of vigor and plenty of groove. Its main problem is that it keeps getting stuck on the build-up riffs, and rarely really lands on something solidly satisfying.
Highlight: “Cult of Depression”
Oceans – Happy
Genre: Progressive metalcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Oceans really maturing as a band on this one, sounding cohesive, locked and loaded. They’re also definitely branching out into contemporary popular music genres, and getting fairly accessible on the singles, but they know how to bring the anger, and make it sound authentically emotional.
Highlight: “BREED CONSUME DIE”
Odium Humani Generis – Miedzyczas
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5This is semi-atmospheric black metal that, for the subgenre, sounds almost rather gentle. It’s definitely still cold and using harsh vocals, but with a pleasantly smooth bass end and flowing melodies.
Ripped To Shreds – Sanshi
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5After impressing me greatly with 2022’s “Jubian”, Ripped to Shreds are back with more crunchy, no-mercy death metal. This time they lean even further into the old school vibe, especially with the vocal approach, and also bring a more pronounced Bay Area thrash side to the fore. It starts off fairly wild and bloodthirsty, then gradually settles into more of a groove-focused approach towards the middle. Some of these riff sections are so savagely primal that you’ll feel like the whole world starts tilting back and forth to the rhythm, in anticipation of your inevitable headbanging.
Highlights: “孽鏡臺 (Visions of Sin, Mirror of Darkness)” and “殭屍復活 (Horrendous Corpse Resurrection)”
Torrefy – Necronomisongs
Genre: Black/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5A clearly not-too-serious blackened thrash project that rages on like an undead racing driver. It does have moments of prog-like ambitions, but its rhythm transitions are probably what they succeed the least at.
Triskelyon – Shattered Elysium
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2/5A thrash/heavy project that clearly tries to bridge a few different subgenres, like prog and even a bit of death. I applaud the ambition, but it’s unfortunately a bit of a mess, and the production does not do them any favors.
Turbokill – Champion
Genre: Power/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Sing-along heavy metal with a very power-esque, over the top vocal approach and epic tonal quality.
Vicious Blade – Relentless Force
Genre: Thrash/hardcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Crossover thrash with boundless energy and a wicked, slightly blackened edge. It’s got that hard-headed, crowd-rousing, no-way-but-forward hardcore rhythm approach and tops it of with snarly vocals, a malevolent tone, and galloping, pulling-at-the-reigns riffs. While never really slowing down, It might be a tad too controlled for some, but I appreciate a rhythm structure that allows for some mid-tempo grooves.
Highlight: “Relentless Force”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
Adorior, albums, Arkona, Bewitcher, black metal, cyborg octopus, death metal, Endonomos, grindcore, groove metal, Heriot, Ingurgitating Oblivion, metal, metal albums out this week, new metal releases, new releases, Obsidian Mantra, oceans, overview, progressive metal, review, ripped to shreds, The Black Dahlia Murder, thrash metal, Vicious Blade -
Weekly rundown September 20 – 2024
It’s a fairly death metal heavy week this one, but only as a large part of a very heavy week in general, offering a variety of stellar releases across subgenres.
Blighted Eye – Agony’s Bespoke
Genre: Progressive death/black metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5An amazingly driven progressive death metal album, propelled by currents of core-solid, tragedy-tinged melodies and given just enough of a blackened edge to flavor the experience with a pinch of sharp, delicate bitterness. This combines the best of folk-leaning melodeath and darkly epic doom into a captivating tale that needs to be taken in from start to finish to fully appreciate the full extent of the band’s style mastery. And it’s progressive in the least disruptive way possible – serving the storytelling by offering an organic progression rather than adding complexity for complexity’s sake. As a big fan of Fires in the Distance, this hits seriously close to the bullseye for me.
Highlights: “In Emnity” and “A Reverent Stillness”
BornBroken – Am I Invisible
Genre: Groove/industrial metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5If you’re just looking for an unapologetic, in-your-face serving of riff-driven, aggressive metal, then this will do the job. Each song does one job, nothing more, nothing less, and doesn’t vary greatly from each other, but they all hit hard.
Bragging Rights – Small Gods
Genre: Progressive sludge/groove metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5With more than just a slight nod to early Gojira, this album is sludgy pulses of forceful emotion conducted by an ever so slightly erratic temperament. Although there’s a certain lack of depth to the mix, and the bass drums get fairly oppressive, the grooves are impactful and the unpredictability of the progression is engaging.
Coffin Rot – Dreams Of The Disturbed
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5The graveyard’s where it’s at with Coffin Rot, which comes as no big surprise. What does impress is just how lively (pun possibly intended) their newest album is. Thoroughly intent on shaking up the tomb soil and raising the dead into a morbid wrecking crew, this puts on the pressure from the get-go, diving enthusiastically into one pummeling riff section after another, sprinkling shrieks, squeals and solos generously across the whole thing. A true heavyweight in the old school of death metal resurrection crusade.
Highlights: “Perverted Exhumation” and “Unmarked Shallow Grave”
Defiled – Horror Beyond Horror
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A dynamic, erratic approach to death metal from this Japanese band. The rhythm approach in particular is like some abomination out of hell, constantly flexing into new forms. However interesting it might be, it’s let down by a simply awful production
Dreamless Veil – Every Limb Of The Flood
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Like a herald of oblivion, this is a semi-progressive black metal album that both crawls through the shadows and rises to tower ominously over you, with a rumbling, oppressive rhythm section to shake the ground as it goes.
Dungeon Crawl – Maze Controller
Genre: Thrash/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Yes, this is in fact heavily D&D-themed thrash metal – it’s rather hard to miss looking at the cover art, band pictures and song titles. If you’re into that, it certainly adds to the experience, and if you’re not, it hardly matters when listening to it. It’s got all the speed and grit you’d expect from thrash, and then it’s elevated onto a more colorful, expansive plane by triumphant melodies and elements of epic orchestration. Other than a couple of overly long interludes, it’s an experience you’ll wish would keep going past its runtime.
Highlights: “Red Shadows” and “Wolves Beyond the Border”
Eradicator – The Paradox
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5German thrash that’s got the right, ragged attitude and tone, but overall feels sluggish, like there’s a disconnect between the different musical elements regarding how fast they want to move. And melodically, it’s a dud.
Giant Walker – Silhouettes
Genre: Progressive metal/rock
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5When a band really nails its melodic approach, it can serves as both a bedrock-solid base and driving force alike, and when it’s led by such am outstanding vocal talent as on here, it’s a powerful attractor as well. If you choose to call this metal, it’s definitely gonna be on the lighter side, but there’s an expansiveness to its scope, and heft to the guitars that certainly earns it a position partially within the sphere. Rhythmically, it’s not unique, but it’s absolutely not derivative, and the band interplay is so sublimely in tune that it’s a joy to take in.
Highlights: “Silhouettes” and “Round and Round We Go”
Glacial Tomb – Lightless Expanse
Genre: Sludge/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5In contrast to the band name, this is a restless type of sludge album carrying some old school death metal heft. It’s the kind of sound that will stop for nothing, powering forwards at varying pace, striking out here and there as the mood takes it.
Groza – Nadir
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5Depending on your inclination, and state of mind at the time of listening, this album can bring you up or down, inwards or outwards. This is black metal that’s deeply immersed in bleak melody which makes any moment at once both melancholy and majestic. There’s emotion in every part of the performances, in a cohesive and mature fashion that’s undoubtedly joined in purpose.
Highlights: “Equal. Silent. Cold.” and “Dysthymian Dreams”
Kanonenfieber – Die Urkatastrophe
Genre: Melodic black/death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Fascinated by World War I, and can’t get enough of battle-themed metal, but Sabaton not really doing it for you? The guys in Kanonenfieber have you covered. This is melodic black metal given the near-symphonic death metal treatment of massive, chugging riffs and epic tonal quality. As befits the theme, the result is a grim juggernaut with an industrial-like, marching pace. While it’s a step away from the war-romanticizing that certain power- and folk metal bands are prone to, it’s also quite rousing, although with a bitter, tremolo-driven tone to offset it.
Highlights: “Der Maulwurf” and “Waffenbrüder”
Krilloan – Return Of The Heralds
Genre: Power/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Power metal that’s thoroughly immersed in its fantasy universe, and doing a great job of inviting you along, with heavy metal style galloping riffs and classic solos.
Kublai Khan TX – Exhibition Of Prowess
Genre: Hardcore/deathcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Take the unapologetic attitude of Pantera and relentlessness of Hatebreed, then amp it up with deathcore-level heaviness, and you’ve got this album. It’s hardcore first and foremost, and so is light enough on its feet not to get overpowered by its own breakdowns, and yet hits with devastating force.
Highlight: “Darwinism”
Mork – Syv
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Mork’s sound has never been extravagant, but on this latest offering they take a further step back from the more epic- and atmospheric-leaning style that was particularly prevalent on 2023’s “Dypet”. It’s more raw, primal, with slightly subdued guitars and drums, and pronounced bass and vocals. A bit of the impact is lost, but the musical craftmanship still secures a memorable experience.
Highlight: “Heksebål”
Nightwish – Yesterwynde
Genre: Symphonic metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Symphonic bands often struggle to get the right balance of depth and drive – often getting stuck on repetitive rhythms and camouflaging a conventional setup with layers upon layers of fluff. Not so with Nightwish. Although there might be an emphasis on clean melody and atmosphere, it feels like a natural part of the story, and so we keep moving forward. When they go big, they do so with authority, amplifying the impact with traditional instruments and orchestration that’ll give you goosebumps. A bit bloated, sure, but they do fire on all cylinders.
Highlight: “Perfume Of The Timeless”
Thorium – The Bastard
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Clearly wishing to branch out a little from the more straight-up, crunchy Scandinavian death metal sound delivered on 2022’s “Danmark”, Thorium takes a slight step into more melodic and atmospheric territory. The music takes on more character for sure, but a fair bit of the groove is lost, and there are not quite as many memorable moments.
Highlight: “It All Comes back To Me Now”
Typhonian – The Gate Of The Veiled Beyond
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This one will likely grow on you as you listen. It’s almost as they get bolder the further in you go, developing from fairly straightforward, sinister death metal into something that dares to reach for some spacey, doom-like melody and a few progressive tricks. It’s sharp, heavy and aggressive the whole way, but there’s an increasing sense of conviction in what makes it stand out, delivered with precision, an old school tone and a great, no-nonsense production.
Highlight: “A Glimpse at the Starless Ocean”
Untervoid – Parasite
Genre: Experimental black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5A slightly sludgy, modern slice of black metal that succeeds in crafting a distinct sound, although seems a bit preoccupied with demonstrating its technical skill.
Vended – Vended
Genre: Metalcore/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Highly spirited, aggressive, young metallic hardcore with traits of nu- and groove metal. The riffs alone are worth the listen, the energy will pump you up, and the band’s dynamic capabilities will impress you.
Highlights: “Nihilism”
Vision Divine – Blood And Angels’ Tears
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Epically dressed up power metal with groggy ambitions. The vocals aren’t always completely on key, and technically it’s a bit show-off-y.
Charlotte Wessels – The Obsession
Genre: Progressive/symphonic metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Impressively diverse, this album showcases the versatility of melodic grandeur – how it can be serene when stripped down, awe-inspiring when combined with outbursts of force, and alluring when allowed to progress organically next to exploratory rhythms. It’s an inspired output topped by an outstanding vocal talent, that should appeal to fans of symphonic-, prog-, and melodic extreme metal alike, as well as those still only curious about the heavier side of the musical spectrum.
Highlights: “The Exorcism” and “The Crying Room”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
albums, black metal, Blighted Eye, Bornbroken, Bragging Rights, Charlotte Wessels, Coffin Rot, death metal, Dreamless Veil, Dungeon Crawl, Giant Walker, Glacial Tomb, grindcore, groove metal, Groza, Kanonenfieber, Kublai Khan TX, metal, metal albums out this week, mork, new metal releases, new releases, Nightwish, overview, progressive metal, review, thorium, thrash metal, Typhonian, Vended -
Weekly rundown September 13 – 2024
A week where, for no lack of trying, the heavier side of metal gets upped by its rock and hardcore-influenced fringes.
156/Silence – People Watching
Genre: Alternative metal/metalcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5There’s a will in here to break free of the formula of predictable melody and utterly rhythm-dominated instrumentation, and when it shines through the strongest, the result is quite characterful.
Crypt Crawler – The Immortal Realm
Genre: Death/groove metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5The old school of death metal resurrection has brought a lot of really great stuff in the last few years, but it can very easily get stale if there’s no attempt whatsoever at reinvention. These guys take a slightly superficial approach to the style and injects in with an invigorating dose of groove and thrash metal. The result is lively, if not a bit diluted.
Flotsam And Jetsam – I Am The Weapon
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5Let’s get it out of the way immediately – this level of recycled-phrases lyrics writing will never get an above average subjective rating from me, no matter how good the rest of the music is. In this case, it’s both tight, spirited and quite fun, although also certainly not anything unique.
Helevorn – Espectres
Genre: Gothic/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5You think gothic + doom metal, and this is pretty much exactly how it has to sound. But Helevorn elevate themselves above the expected with a sublime vocal performance, and a highly convincing commitment to their slow-paced, grey-toned, fog-over-the-silent-hills-vibe melodies that they’ve clearly developed a mastery for. People who aren’t into gothic metal will not be convinced, but for the rest of us it’s a gloomy treat.
Highlight: “The Defiant God”
Horna – Nyx – Hymnejä Yölle
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5The experienced Finnish black metallers that are Horna give you a solidly produced and impressively consistent piece of bitter-melodic, harsh darkness. It’s of the type that locks into a certain type of progression from the start of the song and then sticks to it for the duration, only giving you variation in the nuances.
Insurrection – Obsolescence
Genre: Death/industrial metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Modern death metal in tone and superficial style, for sure, but rhythmically it’s much more… jumpy. There are traces of nu-metal beats, and the whole thing is performed with an industrial stoicism. The result is nice and heavy, if a bit soulless.
Isolert – Wounds Of Desolation
Genre: Melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5A hostile, hissing black metal offering out of Greece that spits multicolored flames of tantalizing corruption. Every song sets out with core desire to sour and bleach, and then evolves along the way, finding fresh ways of delivering its venom. This takes the practical form of a relatively wide variety of rhythmic and melodic approaches, all with the clear intent of staying on (unholy) message.
Highlights: “Reflections of Nothingness” and “Spewing Venomous Gloom”
Killing Spree – Camouflage!
Genre: Avant-garde/experimental metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5I suppose I can’t fault an experimental project for going off the rails and abandoning an approach that was working extremely well (at least to my ears) for the first three songs, in order to explore other avenues. This is probably as close as I will ever get to enjoy free-form jazz. There’s beauty in the chaos, but be prepared that everything is extremely fleeting, and basically aimless.
Legions Of Doom – The Skull 3
Genre: Doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Classic, morbid doom with a rumbling bass end and a mildly exploratory melodic and vocal approach that helps fortify the band’s personality. It’s not all quite as interesting, but it’s got potential.
Luck Wont Save You – Through the Mountains of Melancholia
Genre: Progressive/technical death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A “let’s see if it fits” kind of prog project that throws together pretty much every technique and trope found within progressive- and technical death metal, as well as deathcore, and then harshly offsetting it with some spacey, psychedelic clean sections. It’s a wild ride.
NightWraith – Divergence
Genre: Melodic gothic/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5This sounds a lot like a melodic death metal-ed up version of Tribulation. Which is a promising concept, and a lot of it works well, with husky vocals and slightly morose melodies that build up to some heavy riff sections. But the band seems a little unsure of where to really invest their creative energies, and so it falls a little in between two chairs.
Oceans Of Slumber – Where Gods Fear To Speak
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Oceans of Slumber swing back to the heavier side of the prog spectrum on this one, opening the taps on modern death metal and aggressive groove, for a far spicier experience than on 2022’s harsh-free “Starlight And Ash”. In fact, it’s such a stark difference that I had to apply conscious effort to reset my brain, as my expectations were thoroughly subverted. The melodic, symphonic-leaning inclination is still there, but has to coexist with the other side of the two-face mask. My opinion is that the two stylistic directions do not blend seamlessly. The melody doesn’t always connect well with the more abrasive elements, which take on the more technical role of upping the intensity. Cammie Beverly pushes her impressive vocals even further than before, which successfully adds to the dynamics of the sound, but sometimes also feel a little forced. The album’s biggest strength, however, is being organically progressive, in a way that doesn’t call unnecessary attention to its technicality, and instead just feels… advanced.
Highlights: “Run From the Light” and “Poem of Ecstasy”.
Satan – Songs In Crimson
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Whoa! So this is what it sounds like when a veteran band really puts in the effort. For those not familiar with Satan, they make NWOBHM-style heavy metal, but in a way that doesn’t sound like like it’s recycled. Sure, the style and tone firmly reveal their origins, but the band’s not interested in coasting on past glory, and this newest effort borders on prog in its complexity. New tricks, indeed. The drive suffers slightly in the pursuit of unpredictability, but if you’re sold on the style you’ll stick with it and be delighted over and over again.
Highlight: “Frantic Zero” and “Turn the Tide”.
Slomosa – Tundra Rock
Genre: Stoner metal/rock
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5A “clean” stoner record, in the best possible sense of the term. There’s just no clutter on here – no unnecessary instrumental tangents, no dragged-out atmospheric elements. It just hits the spot, song after song. The mood of the thing is patient yet direct, going heavy on the groove when called for, and backing off into mellow bliss once that particular muscle has been flexed enough. This is a band that knows exactly what they want to do within their particular niche of the musical spectrum, and how to make it their own. A bright future ahead, for sure.
Highlights: “Rice” and “Cabin Fever”
Thy Will be Done – Pillar Of Fire
Genre: Groove/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Hyper-aggressive and energetic groove metal built on hardcore simplicity and directness, boosted by thrash-level speed and precision. This is an entertainer and pulse-raiser, going straight for the throat and seeing no reason why it should relent. They do full-intensity better than mid-tempo, which becomes evident in some slightly less engaging sections along the middle of the album, but they’re quick to dial it back up.
Highlight: “Join, Or Die”
Trelldom – …By The Shadows…
Genre: Progressive black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5When the darkness calls to you, and you don’t instantly recognize it for what it it, that’s when it’s at its most dangerous and seductive. Trelldom rope you in with contemplative, corrupted bliss, that blunts the sharp edge of its black metal blade in favor of translucent tendrils of jazzy atmosphere that subtly grabs a hold of you without you really noticing. It’s a bit understated, and not immediately impactful, but it’s both distinct and purposeful.
Highlight: “Between the World”
Trip To The Morgue – Toe Tagged And Body Bagged
Genre: Thrash/death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Highly unevenly produced death thrash that’s got the right attitude going for it, but fails to leave a memorable mark.
Winterfylleth – The Imperious Horizon
Genre: Black/folk metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5A monumental melodic black metal album that has certain expectations of its audience. If you want the most of this experience, you better be prepared to undertake the full 1hr 14 min of it, because a full appreciation for the effort’s dynamic range requires full-on commitment. This is a cold and ominous sound for the band, like a biting wind along a lifeless, white canyon, carrying with it whispers of bygone toil and sacrifice. It’s really rather gripping when it peaks, and even though some of the rhythmic approaches can get a bit repetitive, the immersion that’s rewarded to those who can break through its icy shell is fantastic.
Highlights: “Upon This Shore” and “To The Edge Of Tyranny”
Wolfbrigade – Life Knife Death
Genre: Crust/black ‘n’ roll
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5As heavy and crunchy as hardcore punk gets, this is Entombed meets Witchery meets Motörhead, meets some sort of demon that’s critically low on sleep, overly caffeinated and fed beyond the brim with bullshit. The entire album is one big “fuck you , you fucking fuck” tattooed on a middle finger that’s flipping you off while lit on fire. And even with all this antagonistic energy, it’s still got the inclination for some garage rock groove and melody, which just hits the spot in between savage, flesh ripping riffs.
Highlights: “Life Knife Death” and “Skinchanger”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly rundown September 06 – 2024
A well-balanced mix of temperaments this week, lacking the heavy hitters but allowing for a sampling of different styles.
Anubis – The Unforgivable
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Al album that goes from drifting around aimlessly in gentle currents of warm melody, to running into rapids of impossible physics.
Black Sites – The Promised Land?
Genre: Heavy/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5In essence, this is chugging, slightly gritty heavy metal with a light layer of dreamy melody, that every now and then decides to break out of the conventional, and take on a bit of a David Bowie-like vibe. Harmony-wise it’s not always a bullseye, but it’s distinct.
Black Sun – Black Sun
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5This has that Accept-like quality of hard rock amped-up to metal heaviness, and introducing some typical Finnish melodic affinity.
Blackstaff – The Storyteller
Genre: Doom/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5A blackened doom project with the abrasiveness of sludge, it makes its home in a dark, cavernous domain of grim fantastical elements.
Blitzkrieg – Blitzkrieg
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5A NWOBHM-style band that has stuck firm to its path. The production is nice and rich, highlighting all the right elements. It’s an instrumentally driven sound, with a very fitting vocal quality, so you’re left with just the right feeling.
Castle – Evil Remains
Genre: Heavy/doom metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Evil Remains plays old school doom with a riff-driven heavy-metal-style mid-tempo that’s highly headband-able. The instrumental production is just right, and paints a gritty graveyard scene, while the vocals are more debatable. For me, they’re simply too detached from the groove and melody.
God Dethroned – The Judas Paradox
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Demon-possessed death metal all the way, God Dethroned delivers a consistent package of darkly melodic, snarly heaviness. For those with the inclination to stay with it, the album offers up some solid sections of aggressive, catchy riffing and infectious hate-energy. The rest will probably be turned off by the repetitiveness of the thing.
Heinous Exsanguination – The Stench of Decaying Flesh
Genre: Brutal death metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5This sounds like exactly the same repugnant, gurgly mass of a riff and tone base divided into sections with slightly different drum patterns to differentiate them.
Infrared – Mainfestation
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2/5Old school thrash that unfortunately lacks drive and coherency in their songwriting.
Killing Of A Sacred Deer – Killing Of A Sacred Deer
Genre: Deathcore/grindcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5An incredibly violent piece of grindy deathcore, like a little box with a world war compressed into it. The drums snap like gunshots, and bass beats land like detonations. If you’re into this sort of sonic punishment, it’ll beat you till you love it. If not… well… it’s less than 15 minutes long.
Misanthropia – Envy The Dead
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5A band opting for an agile and sharper variant of the black/death combination, taking a few elements from the likes of Cradle of Filth, but wit no symphonic elements. Melodically, it’s a bit stumped, and has some work to do with creating a good flow, but it’s a promising start.
Mutant Blast – Soulsteeler
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Groove-centered thrash with a good crunch and a good ear for catchy riffs. But melodically it’s dry as a desert tomb.
Officium Triste – Hortus Venenum
Genre: Doom/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Let’s listen to this old tale of the forest, detailing loss and woes, the inevitable change of passing years, and old, dusty grandeur. It’s heavy, harsh doom with folk-like epic-melancholy melody that sits with you for a while after it’s played. It doesn’t do anything overly remarkable or new, but lets you sink into a world of dark, enveloping, and strangely uplifting currents.
Highlight: “Forcefield”
PeelingFlesh – The G Code
Genre: Death metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Slamming brutal death metal with the distinct, stompy delivery and street-gritty delivery of hardcore. It’s very well produced, hitting with thunderous force and frightening precision, and creating a well-defined sonic soundscape for itself with the mixed-in samples and turntable elements.
Serotonin – Motiv
Genre: Black/sludge metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A form of sludgy black metal that seems infused with the whispers of hidden history and forgotten knowledge. It’s not a slow or particularly atmospheric piece, but it has a tonal quality, and elements of mellow, melancholic folk melody, that places it on a shelf of its own.
Highlight: “Garrote in D”
A Swarm Of The Sun – An Empire
Genre: Doom/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5A small cosmos of its own, of melodies swirling in spiral patterns – from eternally slow to a churning torrent. This thing builds so well, and feels majestically cinematic in scope, whether it’s doing understated ambience or soaring waves of fully involved outbursts. It’s a soundscape to get utterly lost in, feeling like you need a lifeline in order to find your way out again.
Highlights: “Heathen” and “The Pyre”
Vestige – Janis
Genre: Avant-garde sludge/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5An atmosphere-rich mix of sludge, prog, metalcore and a few other influences with clear artistic ambitions. The production wraps everything in a weird, balmy cocoon that feels a bit like everything’s been softly padded. The harshest elements still strike through, but the melody could use some more definition.
Vølus – Merciful The Dying Light
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2/5Taking blackened death metal to a near-comically harsh and simple place.
Wolfheart – Draconian Darkness
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Solidly performed Finnish melodeath with some classic, catchy grooves. On the minus side, it’s lacking real force, and does very little new.
Zeit der Dunkelheit – Die Letzten Tage
Genre: Folk/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5A clearly schizophrenic mix of black metal and really rather upbeat folk. The folk goes “dance and frolic all night!” the black metal goes “I HATE YOU”. Then some seriously bombastic interlude kicks in, then some more dancing, then it slumps into bitter, doomy melancholy. It’s entertaining, but wildly inconsistent.
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly rundown August 30 – 2024
A week that brought out some strong opinions from me, with a couple of the biggest names in progressive and melodic extreme metal headlining.
Amiensus – Reclamation Pt. II
Genre: Progressive black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is certainly not one for the black metal purists, and not really for the prog nerds either, but for all of us in between, what’s offered is a well-balanced mix of progressive black, melodic death, and doom metal. There are style influences to be recognized in most parts of this, so it’s not truly unique, but for fans of melancholically melodic extreme metal with a dark folk vibe, there’s lots to appreciate.
Highlight: “Decaying God Child”
Anciients – Beyond The Reach Of The Sun
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5Calling this straight progressive metal feels almost misleading, but so would tacking on “death”, “doom”, “folk”, or any other subgenre for that matter, even though all of the ones mentioned are present as layers in the music. Opeth is probably the closest comparison I can come up with, considering the lush, darkly mystical melody, but this also dreams of the cosmos, and every now and then goes on spirited explorations beyond the familiar and earthbound. The balance between the gentler, almost heavy/doom-esque sections and heavier, melodeath-approaching parts feels completely organic, like they’re letting each track evolve as it must. A mature and highly rewarding effort.
Highlights: “Melt The Crown” and “In The Absence Of Wisdom”
Avmakt – Satanic Inversion Of….
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5You ever get that question from non-metal people, “what’s the difference between death metal and black metal?”, and start to wonder which two tracks you could play to best showcase the divide between these two subgenres? This is the sound you want to represent black metal. A million, tiny cuts in the dark, as you flail through frigid, Scandinavian woods.
Deceased – Children Of The Morgue
Genre: Death/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Not being familiar with Deceased, their “mild” variant of old school death metal might take a little getting used to, but if the sound speaks to you, then you’re getting some genuinely lively stuff here.
Dionize – Lighthouse
Genre: Stoner/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5This one deserves a better production. It’s a delightfully varied (for the subgenre at least), if not a bit unfocused, mix of groovy, southern-style stoner, doom, and some sludgy vocals. And it’s from New Zealand!
Ellende – Todbringerin
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5Given that the messenger is an obvious, ominous representation of the netherrealm, I can’t imagine a warmer, more comforting delivery of the message of death, without shying away from any of the grim actualities involved. Ellende follow up their fantastic 2022 release “Ellenbogengesellschaft” with another gripping, impressively complete and stylistically confident masterpiece of atmospheric black metal with doom-like sensibilities. Apply a bit of patience, then sit back and let this oddly encouraging embrace of sorrow wash over you.
Highlights: “Ballade Auf Den Tod” and “Verachtung”
Erronaut – The Space Inbetween
Genre: Stoner/psychedelic metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Sure, to casually attentive ears, this is same old, same old. But it’s well produced, and introduces some modern, almost prog-melodic elements that helps separate it from its peers.
Leprous – Melodies Of Atonement
Genre: Progressive metal/rock
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Alright, I’m not gonna sugarcoat this: To me this sounds like Leprous making music from a monstrously inflated sense of self importance. There’s absolutely no hiding the immense talent behind this, and production wise it sounds as sublime as ever. But god damn are they taking your attention for granted, and when the intensity ramps up it’s usually surfing on rather uninspired, overly electronica-induced melodies. What’s more frustrating is how they all seem to almost comically restrain themselves for lengthy sections of time. as if they consider their maximum technical effort to be harmfully potent. There’s understated, and then there’s holding back. This will inevitably be a subjective take on the album, which is, objectively, quite solidly crafted, and those who are sold on their current sound probably won’t be disappointed.
Lee McKinney – To Those Who Know Pain
Genre: Shred/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5It’s modern, vibrant, progressive-minded shred. That’s pretty much all you need to know.
Nails – Every Bridge Burning
Genre: Grindcore/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is a spike-covered fist down your throat of crusty riffs, detonation beats and bile-spitting vocals. It’s a sub 18-minute, eardrum-scouring blast of heavy grindcore with punk abandon, roaring hatred like an engine from hell. With such an uncompromising sound, you’re either gonna be completely locked in from start to finish, or start to find it a bit repetitive after a while, but given the short runtime that might not be until several repeat listens in.
Highlight: “Give Me The Painkiller”
Norna – Norna
Genre: Sludge/doom metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Nihilistic and dilapidated – this is the feeling of this harsh, semi-progressive doom project, like a dark incantation taking a painfully long time to utter.
Oceano – Living Chaos
Genre: Deathcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Ultra-precise, djent-percussive deathcore with a backdrop of solemn, grand melody. The clash of artificial and organic is definitely not their strong suit, but they manipulate their instruments with practices mastery, and infuse enough emotion into it to conjure some real personality.
Teeth – The Will Of Hate
Genre: Technical/progressive death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5An album that I really wanted to love, partially due to that sick album cover, but ended up falling a bit short of adoration for. Mainly because this is dissonant, hostile, otherworldly death metal, and so I should feel terrified, or at least intimidated, but in the end I wasn’t left with much more than the expected admiration for the technical prowess of the band. It’s not at all overproduced, and does not overuse its rhythmic approaches, feeling focused and disturbingly well controlled, while still retaining a veneer of that core death metal grime.
Highlight: “Apparition”
Thrown – Excessive Guilt
Genre: Hardcore/metalcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Hardcore with metalcore-like, synthetic backing melody, going hard on the beats and delivering some good grooves, but you can’t help but feel that most of the force comes from the production, not the performances.
To The Grave – Everyone’s A Murderer
Genre: Deathcore/brutal death metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5Talking about all the force coming from the production.., This is brutal deathcore almost entirely comprised of dissonant chugs and breakdowns, with some horror atmosphere thrown on top.
Vast Pyre – Vast Pyre
Genre: Doom/stoner metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5An abyss-lurking doom record with some stoner groove to the riffs, which, honestly, feels like a bit of a distraction. Personally, I feel the same about the rough, nearly spoken-word vocals, but that might be a matter of taste.
Wintersun – Time II
Genre: Symphonic folk/power metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Fist off – be prepared that at least 16 minutes out of the 48 min 40 sec runtime of this album is purely atmosphere and acoustic transitional melody. Expected? Second then – the production is absolutely massive, and so the core sound of melodic extreme metal is cushioned almost beyond recognition in between layers and layers symphonic elements both instrumental and synthetic. No problem? Thirdly – Most of the choruses are rather repetitive and stretch out far beyond the necessary, for the purpose of soaring high as long as can be gotten away with. On par? Then enjoy the Finnish grandeur in all its… grandeur, that, when it hits right, will indeed wow you with its uncanny melodic affinity and complete dedication to the epic.
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly rundown August 23 – 2024
We’re out of the slump! For real, this week means business, going big on drama and sheer malevolent force.
All For Metal – Gods Of Metal
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 1/5
Objective rating: 2/5Cheese on cheese on cheese on cheese on cheese on cheese…
Alleviate – DMNS
Genre: Metalcore
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5Heavy djent crunches on top of typical metalcore rhythms, added some squeals and dual clean/harsh vocals.
Buryfication – Gallows Rise
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5A morbid whirlwind of a blackened death metal project out of Finland, with some great trash riffing in the vein of Vader. Unfortunately, the production is not great, robbing it of a lot of power, and it doesn’t help that the song compositions are a little messy.
Carmeria – Tragédie D’amour
Genre: Symphonic power/gothic metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A well balanced mix of earworm melodies, vibrant guitar work and excellent vocal performances, both clean and harsh. What drags it down for me is uninspired rhythm work and too many ballads on what would already be a pretty sappy album.
Chained Saint – Blindside
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Back-to-basics, old school thrash metal in the vein of early Anthrax and Exodus. The best part of this is the energy, followed by the relative simplicity – not necessarily in the performances, but the layering of the different musical elements.
Dampf – No Angels Alive
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Bombastic, thickly produced power metal with classic, arena friendly folk metal elements. It’s got some rousing melodies and cool solo work, but keep leaning heavily on frustratingly simple rhythms and structures.
Demiser – Slave To The Scythe
Genre: Thrash/black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5There’s no end to the fuel being poured on this fire. Demiser delivers blackened thrash metal in that aggressively diabolical fashion, rather than going down the cold and husky tonal path. There is a tendency for the riff style and tempos to take strong cues from speed metal, which certainly keeps the motor running, but on some early tracks, this “speed racer” influence makes for a significantly less forceful output. This is, however, quickly regained, and the album finishes off very solidly.
Highlight: “Total Demise”
Fleshgod Apocalypse – Opera
Genre: Symphonic death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Welcome back to the masters of extreme drama! For their first album with a permanent, female clean vocalist, Fleshgod Apocalypse goes big on the grandeur, serving the album name well. As a result, “Opera” can feel a bit more generic for the subgenre of symphonic death metal, and the fact that they front load the album with the three single-tracks certainly helps to reinforce this feeling, at least for the first half of the listening experience. But, very importantly, the fury and technical savagery that the band is renowned for is very much still front and center, and you can’t help but be awed by the blast wave of force they deliver again and again throughout. Couple this with the fact that the songs get more playful and unpredictable from the middle on, and you’ve got the best of both the “safe” and the more exploratory.
Highlights: “Morphine Waltz” and “Pendulum”.
Generation Of Vipers – Guilt Shrine
Genre: Sludge metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5This is sludge with the kind of vibe that makes you feel bad for being in a good mood. Using elements of doom, and progressive rhythm structures, it seems almost like the music struggles its way forward. That’s not to say that the flow is bad. It’s tied together with some excellent dark atmosphere and has a great, crunchy riff engine to keep it going.
Highlight: “Lux Inversion”
Koldbrann – Ingen Skansel
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Classic, misanthropic black metal out of Norway. It scores low on distinctiveness, but delivers enough hissing aggression, cold tremolo and pummeling double bass to win over most any black metal fan.
My Fictions – Touch Of Glass
Genre: Metalcore/hardcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5A downer of an emotionally laden, disharmonic metal/hardcore album. It feels like an uphill struggle on repeat – scaling a different metaphorical hill for each song.
Nile – The Underworld Awaits Us All
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Are you ready to face, quite possibly, the busiest drums in death metal? Even for technical death metal, the ferocity of this is quite intimidating, especially because Nile employs a much more raw-sounding, old-school tone than a lot of modern peers. What they do share though, is a tendency to prioritize the technical performances over memorable hooks and melodies. The result is a raging firestorm, like a darkly divine retribution, the purpose is to leave the earth a scorched wasteland.
Highlight: “To Strike With Secret Fang”
Paralydium – Universe Calls
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Classic, melodic prog metal that delves into a far-removed, fantastical realm where it creates a stage for itself to perform its vibrant instrumental acrobatics.
Simone Simons – Vermillion
Genre: Symphonic metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5On this solo album, Epica’s Simone Simons collaborates with Ayreon for a slightly restrained, yet still highly dramatic concept that involves mildly progressive instrumental work, a completely dominant focus on melody, and, naturally, ample space for vocal extravagance.
Spectral Wound – Songs Of Blood And Mire
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Layering an avalanche of punishing drums with fiendish vocals and guitar-driven melodies that seem to simultaneously lament and hurl hateful accusations towards the sky, Spectral wound have found a solid path leading out from the core of classic black metal. They manage to simultaneously sound like vicious witchcraft and youthful rebellion, which lends enough depth for the album to be both entertaining and immersive.
Highlights: “Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal” and “A Coin Upon the Tongue”
Within The Ruins – Phenomena II
Genre: Deathcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5If there’s one thing this album succeeds in doing, it’s being playful. There’s so much going on with the effect-laden guitars and spastic drums, you can’t help but sit back and grin, while also shaking your head a bit in disbelief. What doesn’t work so well is the way this cheerful instrumental approach mixes with the (clearly meant to be) furious vocals and low-tuned, wanting-to-be-threatening riffs.
Zeal & Ardor – Greif
Genre: Avant-garde/experimental metal/rock
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5This is an album that needs to connect to you on a personal level. Devoid of conventions, it’s not what you’d call inaccessible, but neither is it actively trying to make you stay. Doing its own thing, weaving into, out of and between metal, rock and folk, it is its own entity, hardly even throwing a glance in your direction, leaving it entirely up to you to find out if your sensibilities are going to end up matching. Some might take this as indifference, some even low-effort, but I can’t fault the artistic integrity.
Highlight: “Hide in Shade”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly rundown August 16 – 2024
A compact week carrying few mighty headliners, and a lot of smaller aggressors, with hardcore getting ample representation.
Âscent – Gamma
Genre: Progressive metal/rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5The prevailing notion I want to attribute to this album is “understated”. Not in the way that it lacks character or variation, but it prefers to take things mellow, even on tracks with names like “Party” and “Hades”.
Attractive Chaos – Tame & Conquer (EP)
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Fairly bread-and-butter sounding female fronted melodic metal. It gets into some slightly heavier, more interesting sections in the latter half, but it doesn’t fully make up for some of the more creatively barren stuff that’s on here.
Cemetery Filth – Senses of Detriment (EP)
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5You know damn well what this is. There’s no mistaking it with that name. It’s got some pretty cool, spacey solo sections to go with the… cemetery filth, and it’s not even a tonal clash. A little disorganized, but not totally clunky.
Dark Tranquillity – Endtime Signals
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5It’s been a little while since the last DT album, but then the band hasn’t been in the habit of releasing new material frequently for quite some time. As long as this coincides with the kind of consistent quality they’ve been able to maintain, you won’t hear me complaining. On “Endtime Signals” we get them balancing their trademark solemn melodies and evergreen knack for controlled aggression better than I can seem to remember for quite some time. You still get some doom-leaning, all-mellow tracks, and in a few instances I wish they would just return to that awesome riff line they played a little earlier, rather than staying in that chorus-style limbo rhythm for the rest of the song. But it’s obvious that they keep trying to do new things, incorporating a bit of prog, a bit of groove, a bit of thrash, and are still able to masterfully tie everything together with their impeccable tonal consistency. And then throwing in some of the best solos they’ve ever done for good measure.
Highlights: “Unforgivable” and “A Bleaker Sun”.
Extinction A.D. – To The Detested
Genre: Hardcore/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5If you think the idea of mixing New York Hardcore with the rougher end of thrash and 90s groove metal (Pantera) sounds like just the ticket, then there’s no way in hell you’re not gonna dig this. It’s bursting at the seams with that bare-chested, shorts-wearing, uncontainable kind of energy, and completely unapologetic about serving up a non-stop buffet of stompy, squealy riffs. A bit one-dimensional? Sure. Are you gonna care? Absolutely not.
Highlights: “Impervious *(Unrepentant)” and “Shepherding Swine”.
Gel – Persona (EP)
Genre: Hardcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Hey, hardcore should be allowed to be catchy too. There’s no shortage of aggression and attitude on Gel’s latest EP, but it feels surprisingly orderly, almost a bit industrial , and goes straight to the point with its relentless, crusty riff parade.
Highlight: “Martyr”.
Horns & Hooves – Spectral Voyeurism (EP)
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5An intriguing spin on classic raw-like black metal, infusing it with a frantic, near-psychedelic, retro-punk kind of vibe, that I’m (clearly) struggling to properly define.
Left To Suffer – Leap Of Death
Genre: Deathcore/Metalcore
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5Highly sappy-melody-oriented metalcore with a deathcore Hyde-like second personality. It’s well produced and vibrant, mixing in a lot of popular music genres. But to me it just screams trend surfing.
Starer – Waking
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Melodic, far-reaching black metal with a semi-bleak tone, like a gale across a mostly barren landscape, revealing patches of struggling vegetation among the dust and rock.
Thermality – The Final Hours
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5This thing so strongly radiates 90s In Flames that I’m forced to call it slightly derivative, but at the same time I don’t want to complain about getting more of that stuff. It’s not the most mature thing you’ll hear this week, and they’ve got a bit to go on delivering lasting impressions, but it’s a solid foundation to build on.
Trench – Between Inverted Worlds
Genre: Deathcore/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A conceptually charged, heavy and dystopian-feeling extreme metal project melding elements of deathcore, hardcore, progressive death- and industrial metal. The influences of these exist mostly in the nuances, as the album sets its own pace, stepping hard on the aggression pedal while mostly moving at a fairly moderate pace, with glimpses of bleak melody in between.
Highlight: “PATH OF PAIN”
Vile Rites – Senescence
Genre: Progressive death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Very much following the vibe of its cover art, this feels like a massive, writhing entity in the oceanic deep, expressing its wrath in between the surges of the currents, in the form of doom-laden, sinister atmosphere. But when this thing goes on the hunt, it’s merciless, striking with predatorial determination. The album employs melody and dissonance in equal measure, without letting either side assert dominance, prioritizing a sort of in-between, slightly unpredictable tone.
Highlight: “Shiftless Wanderings”
Yosemite In Black – In Pursuit Of
Genre: Hardcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A fierce, rhythmically pounding hardcore album with more than a bit of grindcore energy. Both riff tone and vocal style exude hateful harshness, but the band has little interest getting into any sort of chaotic knots, instead pulsing out the brutality like a revving engine.
Highlight: “Robber Baron”
Ulvehunger – Retaliation
Genre: Black metal/black n’ roll
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Raspy, war-prepared black metal that’s not afraid to open the taps on a few groove riffs and solos. It’s cold and jagged, but not overly hostile, placing it in an area between Khold and mid-career Satyricon.
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly rundown August 09 – 2024
Another short week as we ride off the slump of summer, but the sake of all that’s unholy, don’t sleep on this one. Some real face melters coming your way.
Bless The Dead – We Create This
Genre: Groove metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5A bone dry, harsh kind of southern groove metal album with some good aggression behind it. They unfortunately fall fully flat on their asses whenever approaching a melodic vocal line, but they’re also not too commonplace.
Carnivore Diprosopus – Rise Of The Insurrection
Genre: Brutal death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Talk about setting the right expectations with your album art. This is a smorgasbord of excessive force, in the form of meatgrinder vocals, artillery barrage drums, and chainsaw windmill guitars. It could benefit from a richer production.
Crushuman – CrusHuman
Genre: Death/nu/groove metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Here’s a combo I didn’t think I’d hear this week – death- and nu metal. It has those beat-based rhythms, and a bit of turntable effects to go with it. Later on it kind of switches to groove, and every now and then hardcore. This genre schizophrenia is, unfortunately, the most interesting about this. The production is lackluster and uneven, the album has no less than 17 songs, several with a grindcore-style short runtime, but still. Good moments kind of get lost in the crowd.
Dark Deeds – Death Keeps
Genre: Deathcore
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Personally, I find that this album has one of the most uninteresting opening 5 minutes of runtime I’ve heard all year. It’s nothing but slow, low-tuned riffs and breakdown beats with some spoken-word interludes and clenched vocals. Lots of rage on here though, for those who simply wants to get fired up.
Duhkha – A Place You Can’t Come Back From
Genre: Metalcore/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A truly bludgeoning album mixing the deftness of metalcore with the stompiness of hardcore, and adding in some sludgy, even death metal-like low-end steamroller force for that bone crunching heaviness. There’s hardly any melody to be found, but it’s not truly dissonant either. It feels nimble, like a heavyweight fighter with good footwork and a headsman’s scowl to psyche out the opposition.
Highlight: “Echo Theft”
Earth Ship – Soar
Genre: Stoner/doom/sludge metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5This album sounds a bit like each section of the band was given a different subgenre space to play in. You get stoner-style lead and drums, doomy riffs and bass, and sludgy vocals. It fits together perfectly fine, but the whole ends up a bit removed from the more potentially interesting extremes of either of its parts.
Fulci – Duck Face Killings
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5Sometimes death metal can be allowed to be both brutal and lively, in insanely headbanging-inducing fashion. It doesn’t take more than a few seconds listening to this album to realize that this is what you’re in for, in spades. Built around an aptly tongue-in-cheek gory horror theme, you get that same entertainment factor of Dethklok at its very best, just springing from a significantly elevated level of musical craftmanship. The drums and low-end riffs deliver an industrial slaughterhouse level of precision, with a thrashy, Slayer-esque, malicious-toned, nimble lead riff line stalking like an eager axe murderer in the background. They make some tastefully weird thematic choices in connection with their cinematic inspirations (The New York Ripper by Lucio Fulci), which adds enough barbed character to embed itself in your memory.
Highlights: “Human Scalp Condition” and “Maniac Unleashed”.
HammerFall – Avenge The Fallen
Genre: Heavy/power metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5I was poised to diss this pretty hard, but, aside from its utter lack of innovation, there’s way too much good stuff going on here to simply dismiss it as a conveyor belt release. There’s actual depth to the melodies, good variation, and a genuine genre enthusiasm radiating through the whole thing. Most importantly, it’s far from so overproduced that it doesn’t sound like it’s made by actual people. And these people have a masterful knack for the accessibly epic.
In Aphelion – Reaperdawn
Genre: Melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5The veteran-comprised black metal band that is Reaperdawn strikes once more. If you’re unfamiliar, then think Necrophobic and Nifelheim (from which two of the members hail), and you should have a pretty good idea. This is quality, plain and simple, although it does little to subvert expectations. Furious wraith riffs, icicle solos and vocals like ripping gangrenous flesh. It’s full of classic metal energy and that Swedish quality of injecting melody without affecting the heaviness.
Highlight: “Reaperdawn”.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – FLIGHT b741
Genre: Blues rock
Subjective rating: /5
Objective rating: /5Not gonna review this, cause it’s definitely not metal, but just thought I’d mention that King Gizzard has released another album. Again. It’s good. Just not metal this time.
Kurokuma – Of Amber and Sand
Genre: Doom/sludge/psychedelic metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5An album that wants you fully committed all the way through. It’s equal parts heavy chugging and mildly psychedelic ambience, which extends into interludes in between every full song. It does feel like a spiritual journey, but perhaps not one taken willingly. The melodies are warm and flexing – reaching out beyond the deep core of the doomy bass, to whatever might be found out there. While the rhythms move us steadily forwards through the unfamiliar landscape.
Highlight: “Death No More”
Monument Of Misanthropy – Vile Postmortem Irrumatio
Genre: Technical/brutal death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Did you dig the latest Summoning the Lich album, and wish you could get more of Aborted sooner rather than later? Well, here you go. Like with the Fulci album also released this week, this is serial killer themed, although with a real one (Ed Kemper) adorning the cover. What’s cool is that these guys manage to deliver what I found the Aborted album earlier this year to be missing – some actual depth and variation. Sure, it’s hyper tight, fast and heavy as all hell, but it knows how to get into some grooves, use different rhythms for effect, and dip into more classic death metal whenever a hit of believable malevolence is needed.
Highlights: “Vile Postmortem Irrumatio” and “How to Make a Killer”.
Mushroomhead – Call The Devil
Genre: Nu/industrial metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Mushroomhead is another nu metal golden era band that I honestly never listened to. So, going in half blind and hearing the first song, I got my hopes up for a thoroughly aggressive, groove-laden, perhaps a bit artificial-sounding industrial record with some hip-hop beats. Alas, on the next song it decided it wanted to be something else. And something else on the one after that. And so on. For those not minding a mixed bag, it might be entertaining, and it has some cool moments, but objectively, this inconsistency is highly detrimental.
Oxygen Destroyer – Guardian Of The Universe
Genre: Thrash/death metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5Fucking hell. Don’t turn your back on this one. You’ll need your complete faculties to withstand this tsunami-through-a-knife-factory merciless onslaught of blackened death thrash. If you thought that death metal can only fuse well with the more mid-tempo and groove-laden parts of thrash, you were clearly mistaken, as the guys go absolutely scorched bananas with their picks and sticks pretty much from one end to the other. The delightfully geeky Kaiju theme functions as compact sinew to hold the whole thing together, only showing up at key intersections, rather than some half-assed veil dropped over the whole thing. Through a combination of tone, vocal style and production, they’ve managed to keep the jagged dagger edge of thrash intact, instead of opting for the meat mallet blow of death metal, all the while backing it up with an atomic breath’s worth of force.
Highlights: “Shadow Of Evil” and “Eradicating The Symbiotic hive Mind Entity From Beyond The Void”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly rundown August 02 – 2024
A week that’s over before you know it, but throwing some real nuggets of brutality at you as it passes.
Acid Mass – Worship
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5“To hell with everything!” seems to be the prevailing thematic notion behind this punky, slightly low-fi thrash metal record. That’s not to suggest that their performances are in any way lacking. This is speedy, high energy stuff with tons of spit-in-your-face spirit and a favorable attitude towards cool licks and solos. Definitely something to check out if you’re a riff junkie and don’t absolutely need your metal to carry that massive punch you get from a big, clean production.
Highlight: “Hell From Above”
Asenblut – Entfesselt
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5This is vey much like modern Amon Amarth, unfortunately at their least imaginative. Riffs and melodies are a dime a dozen, but at least it’s not over the top anthemic, and when they really try to go heavy, they mostly succeed.
Barbarian Hermit – Mean Sugar
Genre: Stoner/sludge metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5I wouldn’t go so far as to describe this as progressive, but it sort of lives in its own in-between world where slow, wandering melodies and groovy chugs are are equally natural parts of the progression.
Carnophage – Matter Of A Darker Nature
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Expect an interesting blend of different death metal subgenres on this one, and a melodic tone that subtly distinguishes it from the morbid masses. It’s definitely on the modern side, with strong elements of tech and brutal, but the production and riff tone leans towards the old school. Without getting experimental, it eagerly tries out a plethora of different approaches, which doesn’t do wonders for the flow, but keeps you guessing for what you’re gonna get next.
Convictions – The Fear Of God
Genre: Metalcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Rather typical modern metalcore of the heavy, djent-chugg-juxtaposed-by-electronic-melody-and-soft-vocals variant. Yes. I realize I’m being dismissive, but I just don’t find anything inventive here.
Gravemind – Introsphere
Genre: Metalcore/groove metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Massively percussive, djent-riffed modern metalcore switching between dissonant chugs, lighter grooves and moments of mellow melody.
Mister Misery – Mister Misery
Genre: Melodic groove metal/hard rock
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Catchy, pop-melodic, metallic hard rock that delivers some surprisingly cool grooves, whenever they let off on the anthemic pedal.
Mourners Lament – A Grey Farewell
Genre: Doom/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Not one to easily appreciate with the balmy summer afternoon sun streaming through your window, this is sullen, husky doom with some death metal knots of slow-burn vehemence, rolling through like a nearby rockslide. Perhaps a bit too sluggish for its own good, if you set aside the time, you’re in store for some solid, austere melodic sections with the feel of slowed-down old school melodeath.
A Night In Texas – Digital Apocalypse
Genre: Technical deathcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Apocalypse indeed. Its gist near-perfectly encapsulated by the album art, anyone even remotely familiar with tech death and deathcore will know more or less what this album is about. It’s sci-fi warfare described with as much appetite for violence as the grand, dystopian spectacle – complete with artillery-crash breakdowns and ever-changing rhythms of high-rate mechanical weapons fire. It’s at its most interesting when a little more stripped down and centered around Slipknot-like grooves, which adds much-needed character for the inevitable, brutal cacophony to build on.
Rise Of Kronos – Where The Gods Return
Genre: Death/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Sure, this has the surface aggression of death metal, but a lot of the main rhythms and riff lines are straight out of classic heavy metal and even rockabilly. That makes is quite accessible for a growling, thundering hate machine, which in one way is enjoyable, but also strips it of a lot of the brutal impact it probably intends to deliver.
SulfuriS – Corpus/Animus
Genre: Groove/sludge metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5A kind of rough-around-the-edges groove metal project with some definitive Scandinavian melodeath-flavored moments, but not in the sense of scale or heaviness. Rather, they do their own, down to earth thing and play around with a host of different riff approaches and fairly straightforward rhythms much more reminiscent of a slightly progressive, sludgy hard rock project. It’s interesting, although technically a bit stiff.
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly rundown July 26 – 2024
This week there’s a bunch of loudmouths about – big, bombastic, world-rumblers that might take your attention for granted, and some deservedly so.
Category 7 – Category 7
Genre: Heavy/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5This new supergroup has all the ingredients necessary to craft a highly enjoyable heavy/thrash record, and do indeed offer up plenty of playful drum work, suitably rusty vocals and speedy riffs. And yet, it’s about as inspired as its album artwork (included for reference). You be the judge of how much that matters.
Crave – Oblivion
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Groovy, mid-to-slow-paced heavy metal that’s pretty severely ballad prone. Also, there’s an organ. Yay, nostalgia?
Curse Upon A Prayer – The Worship: Orthoprax Satanism
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Finnish black metal that largely manages to resist the temptation of going full folk, although there’s certainly a flair of the darkly epic over this album, which is reflected in its lengthy runtime. It has a doom-like attitude to pacing, even as the tempo and intensity goes as much up as down throughout. It’s solemn, and yet still far from stone-faced, projecting an attitude of faux theatricality and ruffian aggression.
Death Racer – From Gravel To Grave
Genre: Speed/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Blackened motor racing metal? The theme certainly points in that direction, and the “speed” part of the music makes sense in that regard. Otherwise it’s a very punky, rough-edged, slightly barebones kind of experience that’s very comfortable in its niche.
Dream Evil – Metal Gods
Genre: Power/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5What else can this be than a heavy metal appreciation album? Nope, there’s no twist. That’s exactly what it is. If you don’t care about cheesiness of the vocals or the general lack of originality, it’s a well-produced, pump-your-fist, good-energy album with some nice, ratty riffs.
Grid – The World Before Us
Genre: Experimental sludge metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5There is a perfectly solid and hard-hitting core to this slightly artsy sludge project, and some of the more ambient tangents work very well as contrasting soundscape-builders, but largely it lacks coherence.
Imperia – Dark Paradise
Genre: Symphonic metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5On one side, this is well-produced, reasonably varied and some times fairly powerful symphonic metal with a strong vocal performance, and on the other it does little to stand out among its peers.
Ironflame – Kingdom Torn Asunder
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Heavy metal in the style of the NWOBHM, with modern production, speed, and slightly thrash-leaning aggression. Rhythmically it’s a bit stiff, but makes up for it with some melodically very strong solo work, and overall great both instrumental and vocal execution. If you’re keen on the sound of Judas Priest with a hit of Dio-styled fantasy, then definitely check this one out.
Krypticy – The Non-Return
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Seemingly trying to blend old school death and modern tech death, this Spanish outfit scores well on tone, but a good bit less on precision and structure.
Laceration – I Erode
Genre: Death/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5With thrash-leaning death metal, you get certain expectations in regard to speed and precision. Laceration more than delivers on these points, without going over the top in to tech death territory. The riff is king on this album, but the bass drums are the real driving force, expertly shifting through an engaging selection of gears on the unrelenting ride forward. It’s deeply menacing, with a fitting horror-like tone, without this in any way feeling like a gimmick. An excellent blending of rage and instrumental control.
Highlights: “Excised” and “Sadistic Enthrallment”.
Mountaineer – Dawn and All That Follows
Genre: Avant-garde doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5A patient, lingering and beautifully atmospheric doom(gaze) project. It can get overly soft and ethereal in parts, but also serves up crunchy, deep riffs that underlie more or less the whole experience. It’s organically varied and feels profound.
Orpheus Omega – Emberglow
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Modern melodic death metal out of Australia, employing elements of groove and metalcore. Although it’s got a decent amount of aggression, it’s on the accessible side, utilizing quite a few straightforward rhythms and mild-mannered, simple melodies.
Powerwolf – Wake Up The Wicked
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5All right, you know damn well what’s in store. Surprising no one, this is bombastic, extremely rhythm-bound, well-produced and well-executed power metal with a historical twist. I wish I liked this more, cause it’s obviously a ton of fun for those who do. But for me it’s simply too predictable and altogether unchallenging.
Scald – Ancient Doom Metal
Genre: Doom metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5An inviting epic doom metal album with a patiently adventurous sound which, at least to my ears, gets severely disrupted by a sub-par vocal performance.
Soulbound – obsYdian
Genre: Industrial/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Highly catchy, goth-tinged industrial metal with the clearly lingering remains of a past in alternative- and nu metal. It’s very well produced, but melodically it’s about as bland as they come.
Spacecorpse – Shapeshifter
Genre: Technical/progressive death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Spacey tech death that is very insistent upon its brutality, whenever it’s not taking a rhythmic reset to try and find a slightly new direction in which to project its anger. As a result, it’s not the most sure-footed thing you’ll hear this week.
Summoning The Lich – Under The Reviled Throne
Genre: Technical death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5As a big fan of their debut, “United in Chaos”, I had certain expectations for this one, and stylistically it’s very recognizable. You get relatively straightforward tech death with symphonic and brutal tendencies, as well as melodic, in a Black Dahlia Murder sort of fashion. This is heavy, heavy, heavy shit, with a constantly earth-rumbling bass drum and ultra-precise, low-toned riffs. And so, technically and tonally it’s all in order, but chunks of the album do kind of blend together under a shortage of truly standout moments.
Terra Black – All Descend
Genre: Doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Fairly mild, old school leaning doom with a stoner-fuzz feel to the riffs. It’s sedate and slightly melancholy, but not in a deeply lamenting or overly dour kind of way, allowing in a touch of scope and dream-like atmosphere.
A Wake In Providence – I Write To You, My Darling Decay
Genre: Symphonic deathcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5A Wake in Providence returns in familiarly grand, symphonically blackened fashion, but also impressively dynamic and measured. Utilizing modern prog-like clean vocals as a contrast to the throat-rending, wet snarls that go with the deathcore thunderstorm, the album balances sincere, well-crafted and far from overly emotional melody with the apocalyptic, orchestral onslaught of controlled brutality. It’s technically strong, but not distractingly so – every part serving the greater whole of the darkly majestic experience.
Highlights: “The Maddening” and “And Through the Fog She Spoke”
Wormwitch – Wormwitch
Genre: Melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5I, like many others, discovered these guys through their 2019 release, Heaven That Dwells Within”, which was an eye-opening blend of black metal, epic doom and black ‘n roll that made an instant fan of me. Later, they’ve gone in a more straightforwardly harsh and aggressive direction, leaving behind some of the range that truly separated them from the dark masses. With this self titled release, a good deal of that variation comes back, but not in a way that makes it feel like they’re backtracking, and the aggression absolutely remains. The album starts off like a battering ram, firmly stating that business is meant, bursting with energy and lashing you with snarling vocals and insistent drums. Then, step by step, you start to notice layers and layers of depth, introducing restrained melody, groove and atmosphere, and by the time you’re halfway through it’s like everything relaxes a bit, without faltering in purpose. It’s a mature and resolute effort that will solidify the band’s prominence for many.
Highlights: “Draconick Sorcerous Canadian Witchknights” and “Inner War”.
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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The Metal Dispatch 