Confess – Destination Addiction Review

By Owlswald

What happens when you’ve survived the unthinkable? This haunting question moves Destination Addiction, the fourth album by Iranian/Norwegian groove metal duo Confess. Following the release of 2015’s In Pursuit of Dreams, frontman/multi-instrumentalist Nikan Khosravi and DJ Arash Ilkhani endured a harrowing eighteen-month imprisonment by the Iranian government on charges of blasphemy and propaganda against the state. The story of their incarceration and subsequent escape to Turkey while appealing their six-year sentences has much online documentation, which earned them broad support from the global metal scene.1 Despite a punitive sentence from an Iranian court in absentia2 Confess obtained asylum in Norway and channeled their rage into 2022’s Revenge at All Costs. The New Wave of American Heavy Metal (NWOAHM) and thrash-influenced release landed them a spot on Nile’s European tour and a legendary session drummer in George Kollias for the new record. With the threat of persecution now behind them, Confess is ready to unleash Destination Addiction on the masses.

Bolstered by Kollias and top-notch production, Confess has honed their craft on Destination Addiction. The potent one-two punch of Kollias’s nimble hand-foot patterns with Khosravi’s seven-string attacks propels Destination Addiction forward with raw unabated strength, injecting a sharp death metal edge into an otherwise familiar tone. The bludgeoning grooves of opener “Built on a Grave” and the blasting brutality of “Only Shackles to Lose” harken back to Anticult-era Decapitated. Additionally, the polished and balanced mix, with its monstrous guitar and drum tone, further magnifies the material’s quality and authenticity, with the influences that fueled Revenge at All Costs remaining alive and well. Lamb of God shredding (“After Goliath”) and Slipknot enthused anthems (“Expedition,” “Origami God”) frame Khosravi’s vitriolic, dirty growls, nu-metal screams, and pensive vocals amidst Ilkhani’s turntable manipulations. With the weight of their past torment, and Kollias’s exceptional drumming driving their refined sound, Destination Addiction’s raw emotion and anger explode through the speakers with undeniable force.

Confess holds great strength within its explosive energy with the instrumental prowess between Kollias and Khosravi generating power enough to fuel your New Year’s gym resolution. Incorporating brooding buildups and breakdowns amidst their heavy grooves and death-inspired onslaughts, the guitar-drum juggernaut effectively balances extreme aggression with accessible hooks that keep me coming back for more. Ferocious palm-muted riffs, relentless blasts, and hardcore slams ignite “Built on a Grave” and “Slaughterhouse,” while “Only Shackles to Lose” and “Breathe In. Breathe Out.” deliver a devastating finale of pummeling double bass, pit-inducing thrash, and syncopated paradiddle patterns. Khosravi’s vocal veracity elevates the vigor of the music through spirited cadences and excruciating howls, their aggressive and vengeful tone matching the emotional weight of the subject matter.

This cumulative ferocity makes it even more disappointing when the pace and intensity of Destination Addiction falters through the album’s midpoint. After an intriguing start, the overlong “Dark on Both Sides” succumbs to a familiar nu-metal-tinged formula of string bends and open chord progressions, while Ilkhani’s turntablism and Khosravi’s ordinary growls struggle to pick up the slack. The Machine Head-esque “Final Lap” suffers a similar fate, sprawling into an aimless, multi-minute ramble in its back half, derailing the momentum built by the initially engaging disparity of plodding harmonics and whirlwind bouts of tremolos, blasts and string rakes. Thankfully, the thrashing movements of “Suicide Song” and “After Goliath,” including an impressive guest solo by Marzi Montazeri (ex-Superjoint Ritual), help bridge the gap between the strong front and back halves until Confess recapture their gusto.

Confess has taken a large step forward with Destination Addiction, channeling their rage and resilience yet again into a refined sonic assault that leaves little doubt that they mean business. The addition of a drummer of Kollias’ magnitude, coupled with a crisp and polished production, has elevated their sound to new heights. While a couple tracks falter, Destination Addiction succeeds overall in delivering a potent blend of death, thrash, and NWOAHM grooves that transmits the raw energy, aggression, and emotional intensity of the unimaginable adversity Khosravi and Ilkhani have faced. Born from distress, as some of the best music has been, Destination Addiction leaves a lasting impression.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: EVIN Productions
Websites: confessband.com | confessband.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: January 31, 2025

#BlackMetal #Confess #DestinationAddiction #EVINProductions #InternationalMetal #Jan24 #Review #Reviews

#NationalObservanceDay #NationalComplimentDay #Jan24

National Compliment Day comes around every year on January 24. On this day, take the time to give someone a genuine, pure hearted compliment. It just might make their day!

https://nationaltoday.com/national-compliment-day/

Happy #Macintosh day!

#Jan24 #1984 #41Years #68000 #68k

Carnal Savagery – Into the Abysmal Void Review

By Felagund

I’m a sucker for a gnarly album cover. Give me a detailed image of a zombie, ghoul or otherwise undead creature holding a bladed instrument for use in committing appalling acts, and I’m a happy guy. It was this passion for putridity that led me to choose Into the Abysmal Void, the fifth album by Gothenburg, Sweden-based death metallers Carnal Savagery. While I wasn’t at all familiar with the band’s music, I just couldn’t say no to this most common of death metal tropes. Sure, we’ve all seen our fair share of monsters, madmen and mayhem gracing album covers, but unlike some buzzkills out there, I’ve never grown tired of this pastime. And so I grabbed Carnal Savagery in my grungy mits, hoping that they would prove to be just as grimy and gratuitous as their artwork.

Carnal Savagery are nothing if not grimy n’ gratuitous, and that’s exactly what I was hoping for. They traffic in a pungently pleasant, meat-and-potatoes style of OSDM (a similar point the Good Lord Steel made in his review of the band’s fourth outing in 2022), overflowing with guts, gore, filthy guitar tones, crunchy riffs, beastly grooves, and inhumane snarls. Is it any surprise these Swedish carnal savages kneel and worship at the combined altars of Dismember and Entombed? One of the more interesting aspects of Into the Abysmal Void is the light layer of blackened char that crusts over this death metal behemoth’s scarred hide. Vocalist Mattias Lilja’s vox are a bit higher pitched and dynamic than your average OSDM growler, and the guitar is muddy while still maintaining a dangerous, highly-honed edge. Taken together, these elements result in an album that, much like a Bowie knife duct taped to a sledgehammer, both pummels and slices.

The first track is called “Defleshing The Bones.” What more do I need to say? This is a buzzy, bloody, and brief OSDM onslaught with a memorable chorus to boot (albeit just a hearty repetition of the song title). It’s also a perfect roadmap for the rest of Into the Abysmal Void. You get plenty of frenetic blast-beats, screaming solos, and a guitar that should be legally required to have “The Saw Is Family” inlaid on fretboard (thank you, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, for making that tortured reference possible). “Stench of Burnt Decay” slices through your eardrum with crunchy, eviscerating riffs, as does the mutilating maelstrom that is “Reek of Decomposing Flesh.” At the same time, Carnal Savagery are more than willing to slow things down, building atmosphere and crushing you beneath more unbearable heaviness than Giles Corey. “Morbid Death” is a true groove fest that weds sparse drumming with plodding, hefty riffing. “Column of Maggots,” which wins the award for best song title, leans into that doomy groove, while also throwing in some ominous keys that establish a perfect, unsettling tone and serve as the ideal setup for the return of a grimy, Swedeath adrenaline surge.

Where Carnal Savagery fall a bit short on Into the Abysmal Void is their overreliance on repetition. While there’s no bad song on the album, there are certainly ones that tend to drag, especially on the back half, and I chalk most of that up to too much emphasis on the band’s established songwriting structure. By the time you’ve gotten to the seventh song “The Revenant,” you realize it sounds a lot like the previous tune “Choked to Death.” And while the deathened charm is still there, it’s not quite strong enough to make you forget that even fun filler is still filler. Add in the nit-picky observation that nearly every chorus is simply the song title emphatically growled several times, and it’s clear that while repetition is a generally effective part of Into the Abysmal Void’s formula, Carnal Savagery could stand to shake things up a bit more.

The term “Meat and potatoes” seems to have garnered a negative connotation, and that’s a shame. I used it earlier in this review, and I meant it as a genuine compliment. The idea, as far as I see it, is that something doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel to be engaging and enjoyable. Sometimes comfortable, straightforward and reliable is good. And for us unwashed miscreants, old school death metal is just that. Despite some of its issues, Abysmal Void’s latest is honest to goodness meat and potatoes, and for that, I give thanks. I’ll happily clean my plate and go back for seconds, just do me a favor and don’t tell me where this slab o’ protein came from.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 192 kbps mp3
Label: Moribund Records
Websites: carnalsavagery.bandcamp.com | instagram.com/carnalsavagery
Releases Worldwide: January 26th, 2022

#2024 #30 #CarnalSavageryIntoTheAbysmalVoid #DeathMetal #Dismember #Entombed #Jan24 #MoribundRecords #Review #Reviews #SwedishDeathMetal

Byron – Chapter II: The Lotus Covenant Review

By Iceberg

As metal spawns an ever-growing army of combo meals, sometimes it’s nice to go back to the basics. Finland’s Byron, previously reviewed here by our gone-but-not-forgotten Huck n’ Roll, peddle a brand of occult rock with dashes of NWoBHM. Led by drummer Johannes Lahti—styling himself as Byron V—the band has emerged four years after their debut The Omega Evangelion with follow-up Chapter II: The Lotus Covenant. One would imagine Lovecraftian themes of impending doom and epic tales of heroism should provide fertile ground for the fuzzy proto-metal world of the ‘70s. With that in mind, and conscious of the hurdles presented by their debut album, I put on my best oversized fire cloak, lit some candles of intention, and pressed play.

Although Byron play a time-worn style of metal, they don’t confine themselves to a single sonic palette. Early doom tends to be the jumping-off point for occult rock—think Black Sabbath and Pentagram—but that’s not the case with Byron. Chapter II… takes cues from the mysticism of Led Zeppelin (“Sword of the Apostle,” “The Golden Galley”), the swagger of Deep Purple (“Resignation,” “Return to Celephais”), and even the galloping theatrics of early Maiden (“The Lotus Covenant,” “Sometimes Dead is Better”). Melding all these influences is a tall order for any act, and Chapter II occasionally shows its seams as a result. But the more time I spent listening, the more I realized this is an energetic, well-performed, and most importantly fun record.

While bandleader Lahti takes his share of the spotlight with the curtain-raising drum fill of “Overture,” vocalist Johanna Eteläkari shoulders much of the weight of Byron’s sophomore outing. The band wisely jettisoned the weaker harsh vocals of their previous effort to place Eteläkari front and center, and the album’s all the better for it. Her performance guides a smörgåsbord of fist-pumping tracks, from the riff-fests of “The Lotus Covenant” and “The X,” to the ominous Hammond B3-led “Resignation,” and the epic storytelling of “Sword of the Apostle.” The orchestration of Chapter II lends variety and life to the album, featuring a bevy of accompanying instruments including strings, auxiliary percussion, and an omnipresent tambourine. Noteworthy guitar solos anchor Byron’s sound with classic heavy metal idiosyncrasies, but they also provide dynamic shape propelling the song rather than segmenting it (“Sometimes Dead is Better,” “The X”).

Taken track-by-track, a lot of Chapter II makes for a kick-ass occult throwback, but the album as a whole doesn’t digest quite as easily. Excluding obligatory opener “Overture,” the album only features 7 proper tracks delivering 33 minutes of runtime. Normally I’d praise self-editing and the absence of bloat, but with 7-plus minute “Sword of the Apostle” smack in the middle, I’m left with the feeling that Byron actually shortchanged the album. Songs tend to barrel through tight structures and then end rather abruptly (“The Lotus Covenant,” “The X”). The band proves they are no one-trick pony by showcasing multiple instrumental tracks, a spoken word segment, an acoustic-driven ballad, and at least two literary references—Lovecraft and Stephen King—amongst the standard sing-along choruses and shredding leads. But for all this variety it’s tough to parse out any musical through-line due to the brevity of the album. Byron rarely stay in one place long enough for me to absorb their take on the style. As much as I appreciate the skill on display, I’m left missing the definition of the band and the album alike.

That being said, Chapter II: The Lotus Covenant is still a good album that needs to build a greater sum from its parts. The band has a lot going for them in a solid lineup, solid performances, and a vibrant sound that feels resurrected and yet original. But the album as a whole is the art form at stake here, and adherents to the heady days of vinyl should keep that goal foremost in mind. Still, if you’re looking for burly riffs, catchy choruses, classic guitar solos, and a whole lot of tambourine you could do worse than Byron’s latest effort. I look forward to the band’s next album with cautious optimism, and until then I’ll turn on Chapter II when I’m burnt on genre word salad and need to tune in and drop out.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Goatmancer Records
Websites: facebook.com | Bandcamp

Releases Worldwide: January 26th, 2024

#2024 #30 #BlackSabbath #Byron #ChapterIITheLotusCovenant #DeepPurple #FinnishMetal #GoatmancerRecords #HeavyMetal #IronMaiden #Jan24 #LedZeppelin #NWOBHM #OccultRock #Review #Reviews

The Infernal Sea – Hellfenlic Review

By Dear Hollow

Black metal is a finnicky beast. While it’s cohesively devoted to the barbed-wire sonic abuse of the darkest variety, and themes range from the occult, misanthropy, and our old pal Satan, The Infernal Sea dwells in history’s halls. While prior full-lengths Negotium Crucis and The Great Mortality respectively deal with themes such as the medieval church’s exploitation and the Black Death, 2024 finds the Brits exploring a distinct figure: the “Witchfinder General” Matthew Hopkins. Son of a Puritan minister, Hopkins’ three-year crusade against witches and other perceived heresies, through brutal confession extraction and torture in the name of God, would live on in infamy. The Infernal Sea embraces the viciousness of this theme, never neglecting a tangible weight through a riff-first assault, tinged by meditation and tragedy.

The Infernal Sea would likely not raise heads with their style of second-wave. The quartet relies primarily on the unholy trinity of tremolo, blastbeats, and shrieks to carry their style, but attack it with a sour attitude and violent ruthlessness. Hellfenlic tells the tale of the Witchfinder General from zealotry to brutality to downfall through the dark lens of blackened barbarousness, a distinct album-long lyrical and sonic crescendo. With hints of thrash, black n’ roll, and atmosphere, The Infernal Sea composes their third full-length like a story, with tangible darkness and realized tragedy. Ultimately a wonky affair of intense proportions sidewinded by different genre influences and unhinged segments, while its reach exceeds its grasp periodically, Hellfenlic is an intriguing piece of storytelling whose vicious M.O. never questions the allegiance to “trve kvlt.”

If riffy black metal is your jam, The Infernal Sea has got you covered in the 1349 and Dark Funeral School of the Dark Arts. From the scathing Darkthrone tremolo of openers “Lord Abhorrent” and dancing raw melodies of “Shadow of the Beast,” to the head-bobbing heavy metal groove of “Witchfinder” and black ‘n roll riffs and punky rhythms of “Black Witchery,” Hellfenlic will not hesitate to beat you senseless with their uniquely scathingly raw yet hefty guitar tone. Tasty leads that behold a multitude of motifs are utilized throughout to convey the gravity of its source material. Bass is utilized beautifully, injecting a sinister contemplativeness into the abusive tracks “Witchfinder” and “Bastard of the East.” Proving they are not just a one-trick pony witchfinder, the closing tracks elevate Hellfenlic to a more evocative and human dimension. “Frozen Fen” incorporates sprawling and textured overlapping riffs that give a tangible meditation of Hopkins’ downfall, while closer “Messenger of God” utilizes mournful violin and emotive chord progressions alongside contemplative blastbeats to convey the tragedy and destruction wrought in the Witchfinder General’s wake, that indeed, his godly intentions led to the deepest cruelty.

The problems that plague The Infernal Sea are rooted in the adherence to the thrashing second-wave that can often derail creative compositions. Most notably, without several listens to dive into the first half in particular, the tracks can blur together: “Shadow of the Beast” and “The Hunter” have identical structure and lose memorability, starting with a frenetic tremolo/blastbeat assault, before succumbing to a punchy groove about two-thirds of the way in. “Bastard of the East” features a frail chord progression that derails the darker vibe that preceded, and its concluding kickass riff is its only saving grace; “Witchfinder” is likewise an album highlight but its kickass closing riff comes at the end of a tempo-wavering sloppy chug. Despite the nitpicks, the biggest qualm of Hellfenlic is that it is unabashed black metal. Schooled in both the cutthroat speed of Dark Funeral as well as the riff-centric blackened thrash of Absu or Toxic Holocaust, The Infernal Sea is loud and proud with little subtlety to spare.

At the end of the day, Hellfenlic is an album I can blast again and again in spite of its flaws. Tracks like “Black Witchery” and “Witchfinder” are vicious and venomous thrashers, while “Frozen Fen” and “Messenger of God” are thoughtful respites in the attack. The Infernal Sea neatly balances the riff, rooted in thrash and black ‘n roll, with its heavy-handed commentary on an infamous figure that somehow avoids the pitfalls of insensitivity or compositional neglect. While it’s unashamed black metal through and through, and that may not be for everyone, its intriguing theme and sonic blend of the thoughtful and vicious.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Candlelight Records
Websites: theinfernalsea.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/theinfernalsea
Releases Worldwide: January 26th, 2024

#1349 #2024 #30 #Absu #BlackMetal #BlackNRoll #BlackenedThrashMetal #BritishMetal #CandlelightRecords #DarkFuneral #Darkthrone #Hellfenlic #Jan24 #Review #Reviews #TheInfernalSea #ToxicHolocaust

Dissimulator – Lower Form Resistance Review

By Dolphin Whisperer

“My name is Clyde, and I arrive from beyond with terrible news.”

I’ll never forget the Wednesday that I saw the future. Bag, coffee, keys, phone, wallet in tow, I stepped to the porch as I’d done countless times, but down the path I saw staring back at me what appeared to be a Russian tortoise. With its gaze intense as one who had seen a thousand lifetimes, a small pneumatic lift carried and affixed the anguished being at eye level. I could see the morning sun glistening against titanium stitches in a war-torn shell and claws attached to arms for defense. A holograph appeared in front of me—a memory. Clyde cried out in anguish as a limp and head-cracked Ferox lay splayed out, beside him a paperboard sleeve that read simply Dissimulator Lower Form Resistance. Without language my mind began ringing.

“He’s dead. Ferox—my best friend—is dead. You must warn him.”
“Of what?” my thoughts raced.
“Let me show you.”

A ticking cymbal turned my head to the left. I was transported into a wasteland of contorted, lifeless bodies. My breathing intensified as a sick ass riff coursed through me. My black slacks turned to faded and shredded jorts. I could feel the gentle breeze against my freshly exposed arms, the rest of my upper body covered only by a sleeveless, tattered tee that read Whiplash.

“The ‘Neural Hack’ is complete. Now you know. Ferox has passed into a Coma of Souls. This is his Punishment for Decadence. He once thought the riff was his home, but it came to be his Nemesis. Warn him. Save him. Study the riff. Learn its angles.”

Clyde left me and Lower Form Resistance continued on repeat.

I’d encountered ripping thrash before, much of which had sounded in some way like Dissimulator. However, many quirks accompany the crossover-leaning tempo shifts that threaten necks across Lower Form Resistance (“Warped,” “Hyperline Underflow”)—the words progressive and rhythmically frantic come to mind. Philippe Boucher (Beyond Creation, Chthe’ilist) commands his kit with domineering precision, with blackened blasts giving way to skanky pit rolls (“Automoil & Robotoil”) and cymbal strikes signaling massive propulsion (“Neural Hack,” “Lower Form Resistance”). And riding right alongside his wild and dynamic snare, Antoine Daigneault (Atramentus, Chthe’ilist) plunks noodling runs behind spacious chord strikes (“Warped”) and furious pops behind galloping kick lines (“Cybermorphism / Mainframe”). Moments pass where the maelstrom seems to be nearing a steady. But it’s never long before one of these two dastardly players intensify the platform on which the mighty riff leans, turning a snappy stumble into frenzied and tackling strut.

Yes, ultimately, Lower Form Resistance thrives on the frightening, contentious, riff. Claude Leduc (Atramentus, Chthe’ilist), knowing this tool’s power to be both over-leveraged and under-thought, never shies away from breaking character with a Voivod-ian bright chord clamor (“Cybermorphism / Mainframe,” “Lower Form Resistance) or squealing hot lead lick. Similarly, Leduc manipulates the mic with both digital, vocoder-like screenings1 and a hurdling, deathy growl that dips toe into forceful, blackened realms2 on a dime (“Automoil & Robotoil”). Even when the vocals stray into cleaner, prog-borrowing croons, it’s in accentuation of elated cries or slippery slow downs, never quite overstaying welcome. Possessing the ability to wrap lengthy banger in whammy echoes (“Outer Phase”) or escalate creeping scale weeping into hairpin-turn tumult (“Cybermorphism / Mainframe”), Dissimulator makes every movement feel fresh with campy thrash and sci-fi exuberance.

“Clyde, the secret is to maintain a careful bend at the knee, a thoughtful crouch, one arm swinging back, one arm swinging forward as you enter the Thrash Zone.”

As my eyes opened back to the world and this message made its way to present-day Ferox, a smile came to Clyde‘s weathered visage. The proud tortoise began to dissolve back into, presumably, a happier timeline. Dissimulator challenges the energy that technical death-thrash leaders Revocation and Cryptic Shift bring to the masses while also standing vibrantly beside the timelessness of the thrash titans to whom they’ve written this love letter. It’s understandable, then, that Lower Form Resistance hits with heavy-handed nostalgia, grips with tension-testing songwriting, and lands with enough momentum to sweep the floor from under your feet. If you’ve listened and persevered, hold tight to the thrash rager that now sits hot in your catalog. And if you haven’t? Consider this a warning and brace for impact.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: 20 Buck Spin | Bandcamp3
Website: facebook.com/dissimulatorofficial
Releases Worldwide: January 26th, 2024

#20BuckSpin #2024 #40 #CanadianMetal #ComaOfSouls #Coroner #CrossoverThrash #CrypticShift #DRI_ #DeathThrash #Dissimulator #Jan24 #Kreator #LowerFormResistance #Nemesis #Obliveon #PunishmentForDecadence #Review #Reviews #Revocation #TechnicalThrashMetal #ThrashMetal #ThrashZone #Voivod #Whiplash

Acerus – The Caliginous Serenade Review

By Steel Druhm

The Chasm have been cracking skulls since 1994 with their riff-intensive, wildly creative death metal. Over the years they evolved from ass-scratching caveman death to technical insanity engineers, but skulls were always smashed just the same. Though I’ve been a fan forever, somehow I missed that The Chasm’s bassist/guitarist/vocalist Daniel Corchado had an epic/trve metal side project called Acerus and had been releasing albums since 2014. For this, I feel great shame and now I must make amends. The Caliginous Serenade is their fourth release and this one will be properly exposed to the AMG masses! And what should one expect on an Acerus outing? Basically, it’s The Chasm’s blueprint directly applied to 80s trve metal like Manilla Road, Cirith Ungol, Virgin Steele, and Omen, with wild guitar work out front leading the charge. It’s retro as Hell, trve as fook, and will have you joining a rampaging horde before the first song ends. Before we go on, let me ask you this: How’s your sword arm hanging?

As soon as opener “Dying Consciousness of an Old God” kicks into life you will feel stronger and capable of great war wiolence. The galloping guitar lines attack lustily with a big clanging bass following behind as a rear guard. Esteban Julian Pena’s vocals are passionate and sit somewhere between Mark “the Shark” Shelton (Manilla Road) and Tony Taylor of (Twisted Tower Dire), with side quests into Brian Ross (Satan) style sneer-crooning. It works and it will inspire you to heroic deeds. It’s the guitar work by Ed Escamilla and Daniel Corchado that takes center stage, however, and boy do these guys bring the wizard thunder! It’s such a feel-good opener loaded with olden metal tropes, but it kicks plenty of modern day ass. The fun continues on rollicking cuts like the excellent “The Perception” where riffs overrun large swaths of the free world and establish a 1,000-year Empire of Mano-metal. “Failing Visions” fuses the classic trve metal sound with Slough Feg-isms and knocks the weird hybrid out of the park because RIFFS! My personal favorite is “The Serpent is King” which comes at you with ravenous riffcraft with just a shade of blackened menace and thrashy recklessness.

The entire first half of the album is a pornocopia smorgasbord of throwback sword and loincloth metal that’s so freaking trve it may cause hysterical sword blindness. Unfortunately, the second half can’t keep up the high energy, high-quality onslaught, and a few songs feel like lesser versions of the righteous starter set. “Toward the Enigma of No Return,” while good, feels less stunning. “Prevail” is fine but also overstays its welcome, and “The Fourth Pentacle” is quite entertaining with a HUGE Virgin Steele vibe, but the falsetto vocals don’t really work and once again, things go on too long. The album wraps with the 10-minute title track, and while it’s good with very good moments dotted throughout, including more Virgin Steele worship, it too is oversized. The combination of these family-sized tracks makes the album’s 53-minute runtime feel quite heavyset by the end of the campaign.

Excess issues aside, this whole thing is a guitar fiend’s wet dream and there’s simply no way to listen to it without cramping your air guitar fingers. The riffs are stacked on other riffs and shored up with still more riffs. It’s a mammoth riff edifice where other riffs are brought to be sacrificed to the Riff Godz. Ed Escamilla and Daniel Corchado borrow from every notable trve metal act on their way to becoming immortal guitar gods themselves through the unnaturally large volume of ass-kicking leads they cover everything with. Even if you don’t like the classic 80s metal style you won’t be able to resist the swirling, churning guitar insanity. Esteban Julian Pena does a fine job with his vocals, channeling many legendary vocalists. His forays into falsettos aren’t great, but they’re thankfully rare. Corchado’s bass is audible and pops away to imbue some Cirith Ungol atmosphere and round out the uber-macho sound.

I’ve had way too much fun with The Caliginous Serenade and am currently racing through Acerus’ back catalog. If the album was a bit shorter and the editing a tad tighter, the Score Safety Counter would feel their merciless wrath. Even with the extra dad padding, this is too much fun to quit. If you want to experience trve glory, you need to get measured for a Caliginous suit right the fuck now. Tell em’ Steel sent ya. See you on the battlefield, chumbo.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 293 kbps mp3
Label: Lux Inframundis
Website: facebook.com/thechasm.acerus
Releases Worldwide: January 26th, 2024

#2024 #35 #AmericanMetal #CirithUngol #HeavyMetal #IronMaiden #Jan24 #LuxInframundisProductions #ManillaRoad #Omen #Review #Reviews #TheChasm #VirginSteele

Almost Dead – Destruction Is All We Know Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier

I’ve never heard of Almost Dead, despite them releasing material since 2007. And, honestly, some of it is pretty fucking good. Albums like Internal Chaos and Mindfucked are pleasing bits of Pantera-esque thrash and groove. There are also interesting influences sprinkled in, like the cruising, old-school Lamb of God vibes of Mindfucked’s “Dead Enemies” and the Downy clean vocals of “Ignus Fatuus.” But, things began to change when Lay Them Down to Waste came along. The title track, for one, sounds so much like Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” that I see Batman in my peripheral vision. Since then, the band has tended to lean more heavily into their Panteraisms, producing fun little ditties that never quite capture the energy displayed on Internal Chaos. With that knowledge now cemented in your brain, let’s check out Destruction Is All We Know.

I’d be a fool for not giving Almost Dead some credit for not giving two fucks what anyone thinks of their straightforward and sometimes strange style. That said, Destruction Is All We Know is the oddest album of them all—no doubt with some help from dial and toggle man Zac “Friend o’ the Blog” Orhen. One moment, the album cruises along with Warbringer-like thrashings, the obvious stop-start motions of Pantera and Throwdown, and the unlikely inclusion of Mors Principium Est-like melodeath. But, the oddest influence gives one track, in particular, a Dimmu Borgir edge. Destruction Is All We Know is like nothing the band has ever done before, and, boy, am I praying for them.

“Warheads in the Sky” kicks off the back-to-back-to-back collection of the strongest tracks on the album. Incorporating some of their key atmospheres, this song slings a Warbringer chorus at Throwdown licks, building and growing before failing to keep its momentum with its lackluster, backend breakdown. But, follow-up track, “Commandments of Coercion,” does its damndest to keep things on track with its slick introduction and fitting, melodic cleans. At the midpoint, it transitions to a knuckle-dragging riff that powers its way to yet another riff—this time, set up beautifully by the drums. As the vocals throw wads of spittle at each other with Crisix-like energy, the song settles into a pleasing groove before concluding. The third member of this trio, “Eight Eyes of Black” adjusts the pace with those classic stop-start chugs made famous by Pantera. It even leans hard into the angry choruses Phil Anselmo used to be so good at. And, for the first time, the bass surfaces and sets up a back-half transition that grows into a Vulgar Display of Power frenzy.

It’s the flip side of the album that gets weird. Leading that charge is the record’s black sheep, “Within the Ashes.” It takes those key atmospheres from the opener to a whole ‘nother level. But, it’s not apparent at first because the song goes absolutely nowhere for two minutes. Then, it morphs from a thrasher to a straight-up Dimmu Borgir-style symphoblack piece. It’s one of those songs where you look at your music device to figure out if you are still listening to the same album. It’s not bad per se, but I just can’t get behind it. “Brutal Devotion” and “Where Sinners Cry” both have winding-down conclusions that remind me of Machine Head’s “A Thousand Lies,” growing slower and slower until they fade away. The first starts with some heavy Metallica vibes, but ultimately goes nowhere. The most notable part of the song is the chorus where, I swear to Satan, the lyrics are “I need to change my fucking lobster.” The other delves into melodeath territories, but is far too long and meanders too much.

In the end, Destruction Is All We Know adds another record to the band’s thrashy, groove-oriented career. Though, as stated, there are a lot of weird decisions made here. Some work but most don’t. While unique, to say the least, they completely disrupt the flow of the album—adding little to the overall experience. After exploring the band’s catalog, their older stuff is definitely the direction I’d rather they take, but I understand that there’s always evolution. However, the combination of these new influences and styles doesn’t work for Destruction Is All We Know. Would they work if the album was designed in such a way that you expected them? Maybe. Destruction Is All We Know is a perfect example of a mixed record. Still, I’m interested enough to see where they go from here.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Innerstrength Records | Bandcamp
Websites: facebook.com/bayareahardcoremetal
Releases Worldwide: January 26th, 2024

#25 #2024 #AlmostDead #AmericanMetal #DestructionIsAllWeKnow #DimmuBorgir #Down #GrooveMetal #InnerstrengthRecords #Jan24 #LambOfGod #MachineHead #Metallica #MorsPrincipiumEst #Nirvana #Pantera #Review #Reviews #ThrashMetal #Throwdown #Warbringer

Knoll – As Spoken Review

By Dolphin Whisperer

I got a chance to see Knoll live in 2022 shortly after the manic Metempiric dropped. All in all, only twenty people scattered about my favorite hometown venue—a homely bar with a solid stage attached to a bowling alley. This ragtag group of kids who looked to be no older than high school graduates gave the performance of a lifetime—gut-churning rhythms, sudden breakaways from ripping guitar phrases to crying trumpet blares, a vocalist whose life depended on the successful bleeding of the audience’s ears.1 Knoll represents the ideal of youthful ambition. As Spoken is the result.

Did you know that partially choking yourself and maintaining the lurch of a nutritional expulsion both qualify as valid and effective vocal techniques? If you didn’t before, take note that Knoll’s frothing mouth (and wildly curling tongue), James Eubanks, gargles phlegm through vicious snarl and unkempt hiss throughout the entirety of As Spoken, akin to every voice of Left 4 Dead2 at once rather than a typical grunt or gargle. The caustic shrieks and fiercely overtone-rich retches play as refined deathcore techniques taken to new highs and lows—and free of lazy breakdowns in Knoll’s caustic world. As Spoken does not travel in any traditional waters, nary a chorus nor crowd chant nor guitar solo nor pentatonic lick cross its projection. Its forty minutes instead flutter as an amalgamation of contemporary dissonant and ritualistic styles distilled in an arcane mysticism that feels just as campy as it does deadly serious.

The most intense moments of As Spoken render with an unmistakable physicality. Knoll’s guitar attacks strike as weighted, twisting, winding, the bent passages of “Offering,” “Mereward,” “Shall It Be” hitting similarly to warped compositions of an early Dodecahedron piece but with all brightness stripped away. That is until a muted, waning trumpet cry pierces the murk of “Revile of Light” and again against the rage of closer “Shall It Be.” These contrasts act like snow-capped tops amongst the menacing mountains that surround them, important earmarks in the somewhat self-similar assault. The same is true of the riff-less, glottal punishment of “Utterance” which highlights Eubanks’ already crushing performance in a manner that unsettles and awes all at once. Knoll still knows how to throw hands with “Unto Viewing” and “Fettered Oath” delivering late-album calls to violence that feel like ascended oaths to a rowdier youth. Sometimes the quickest path really is that straight cut, unsewn, and expelling.

As this album’s artistic vision dictates, in fascination of an antiquated and blistered grayscale, its sonic palette flourishes in tones of low and lower. Chords and phrases find emphasis often through skewed doubling and layered hammering. Drums hammer in thumping toms, low pop snare, and dull splash cymbals. These choices render the dry bass as mere rhythmic counterpart rather than stabbing counterpoint as you hear more prominently in acts that fall along a similarly dissonant path (check the Portal-ish pounding of “Portrait”). Knoll escapes rumbling muddy but also evades a shar clarity in foggy presentation of the math-inspired, jagged runs that litter As Spoke. Against expanding songcraft, Knoll has used this threatening drawl as tool that gradually dissipates with each passing summoning, casting “Shall It Be” as the most treble-driven, ripping affair that collapses in conclusion as a consequence of its reckless momentum—fickle but fitting.

Finding a throbbing pulse that echoes the relentless march of a contemporary avant-death mongers Aeviterne and a narrative focus that rivals the horror-tinged mathgrinders Fawn Limbs, Knoll has moved bounds beyond earlier efforts. Looking back at Interstice and Metempiric, now, it’s easy to see that Knoll fancied themselves as punks with a frightful and macabre aspirations rather than the full-fledged storytellers that As Spoken required. While the riff and pummel of deathgrind maintains a splotch on the board, this new moody, creaking, and real-time dissolving piece needed a pigment that only time could stain. As Spoken lives loudly even if its trials earn minor scuffs and squabbles from over-reliance on fading ambience to affix intention to exclamation. But you may notice that throughout this written discovery, Knoll exists only in approximations of the sounds that other bands present—their voice rings unique and expressive. And with a little more time to fester and form an evolving vision, Knoll will be a name that extreme metal hopefuls chase.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: N/A | Format Reviewed: Stream!
Label: Self Release
Websites: untoviewing.com | knollgrind.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/knollgrind
Releases Worldwide: January 26th, 2024

#2024 #35 #Aeviterne #AmericanMetal #AsSpoken #AtmosphericDeathMetal #Deathgrind #DissonantBlackMetal #DissonantDeathMetal #Dodecahedron #FawnLimbs #Jan24 #Knoll #Portal #PostDeathMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfRelease #SelfReleases

Savaged – Night Stealer Review

By El Cuervo

Sometimes a band offers exactly what you want. One glance at Night Stealer by Savaged gave me all I needed to choose it from the promo dump. A roaring space panther scratching a moon in front of an exploding planet? This is exactly the volume-upping, beer-downing, old man-moshing palate cleanser that I needed after a black metal review. Though Spain may not be known for such loutish behavior, Savaged are keen to stake a place for it at heavy/speed metal’s dinner table. Did it succeed in breaking my neck and getting me drunk?

“I Will Fight” quickly indicates the sort of album Night Stealer is. It opens with very little pretense, with rolling drums ramping straight into the first verse featuring an entertaining lead riff and wailing vocals. Savaged are, unsurprisingly for the style, oriented strongly around their riffs which are largely a satisfying blend of crunchy and groovy. The vocals move between higher wails and lower croons with a bluesy touch, with appropriate harmonization to beef up choruses. A speedy, shredding guitar solo also caps the first minute of the album. I admire the immediacy of a band that squeezes these elements into direct songwriting. Though the songs broadly fit into an 80s blend of heavy and speed metal, “Knights of Metal” sounds particularly indebted to Iron Maiden who lend influence. And rounding out the sound, the production is pleasingly unremarkable. Unnoticed production constitutes good production. Savaged don’t make music designed to make you think; it’s designed to facilitate beer and moshing.

The opening minute to Night Stealer, and the overall style used, is what makes the second half of “I Will Fight,” and most other tracks, so surprising. This track continues for nearly 6 minutes with an extended instrumental passage after its second chorus. A fresh, shredding lead bleeds into a fresh, shredding solo before the music cuts back into a quiet, twinkling passage of synths. It’s only a tapping hi-hat and distant guitar whining that slowly brings the song back. This passage between choruses occupies nearly half the song, and it’s not the only song adopting this approach. It’s unexpected in what initially seems a very straightforward slab of 80s worship. Admittedly, these extended passages give the band room to show off some instrumental creativity and songwriting dynamism. “Elm Street” boasts the best of them, developing its epic vocal hook with rhythmic “oohs” and “ahhs,” a cool chromatic lead, and a frantic solo.

However, these passages are also a symptom of a tendency to extend what should be three to four-minute songs into five to six-minute ones. I admire subverting audience expectations, but I more strongly admire tight songwriting. Savaged’s best quality is their snappy guitar leads but only the title track features leads used as briefly as they should be, being the only main song shorter than four minutes. A few of the remainder fall into a consistent rhythm of being too long and featuring a lengthy instrumental passage without justifying it. It feels like the band have a choice ahead to either double-down on these into something stranger and more experimental – thus justifying their length – or chopping them down for brevity and directness. A more satisfying way through may also be to feature a more balanced blend of shorter and longer tracks. The longer songs would be better distinguished, and the structure may feel less repetitive if shorter tracks were cut across them.

I value brevity and directness in speedy music like Night Stealer. That’s why I clicked with Savaged on first listen. But the track lengths as the album develops get in the way. It’s not exactly a musical Kafka for intricacy and complexity but by “Running for Your Love (Tonight)” at the end, I feel some fatigue. Clearly, a classic metal style can sustain an entire album’s worth of material but not when I have the reservations that I do. Night Stealer is consistently good but only inconsistently more than that. My eyes and ears nonetheless remain open to future releases.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps
Label: No Remorse Records
Websites: facebook.com/savaged | savaged.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: January 26th, 2024

#2024 #30 #HeavyMetal #IronMaiden #Jan24 #NightStealer #NoRemorseRecords #Review #Reviews #Savaged #SpanishMetal #SpeedMetal

Lucifer – Lucifer V Review

By Felagund

Ah, Lucifer. I remember listening to their self-titled debut album back in 2015 and being immediately hooked by the killer pipes of frontwoman Johanna Platow Andersson and their take on fuzzy, doomy occult rock. But as I sit here to craft a review of Lucifer’s fifth album (aptly titled Lucifer V), I must admit that after that very first dance with the devil in the pale moonlight, I haven’t listened to them much in the intervening years. Their 2018 sophomore effort, reviewed by the mighty Ferrous Beuller, didn’t do a lot for me. Gone was much of the doom-laden heaviness that had grabbed my attention, replaced instead with 70s-style hard rock worship. And while I always took each new release for a spin or two, I never fell for any of their subsequent albums the way I did for that very first record. So where does that leave Lucifer V? Am I too biased to be trusted to deliver a trustworthy opinion? Is my mind so warped by rose-tinted memories that I’m unable to supply readers with an honest, objective critique? Absolutely. So let’s get to it!

Lucifer loves the 70s. From the very first riff to the closing chord, it’s clear that the shift from melodic, thick-riffed doom to more traditional, slightly-psychedelic hard rock that started on Lucifer II has continued, unabated. Ferrous made a similar point in his review, but the difference here is that while the band’s original artistic vision was more in line with the retro-rock sound they’ve now fully embraced, their latest outing finds them leaning just the slightest bit into that original, rumbling heft that first grabbed the attention of so many listeners. Occult rock, meanwhile, still makes up a large part of Lucifer’s infernal DNA, with plenty of Blue Öyster Cult on display, along with a dollop or two of Coven. But more often than not, you’re hearing echoes of Kiss and Heart, the latter thanks primarily to Anderson’s tour de force performance. The result?

A solid, enjoyable album, that’s what; an occult rock excursion that features the kind of well-trod licks, howls, and solos you’d expect to hear on your local classic rock radio station, but with just enough big riffs and witchy atmosphere to get your fist pumping and your bell bottoms a’waftin’. Opener “Fallen Angel” wastes no time in revealing its sordid set of influences, kicking off with a “Tush” era ZZ Top riff that’s both catchy and fun. Follow-up “At the Mortuary” is probably my favorite of the bunch, given its ominous opening, all-too-brief doomy trudge, and catchy, Ghost-esque chorus. The Lynyrd Skynyrd-inflected riffing caught me off guard, but it pairs well with Andersson’s impressive vocal delivery. While her Dinah Lance-level of vocal power is well-known, it’s in her more restrained moments that Andersson has the most impact. Her sultry croons, for instance, are the perfect compliment to the plaintive keys and emotive solo on “Slow Dance in a Crypt,” which evokes the immortal “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You.”

Unfortunately, Lucifer’s infatuation with the 70s is often taken too far, resulting in songs like “Ride the Reaper,” “A Coffin Has No Silver Lining” and “Strange Sister” that are catchy and fun, but don’t quite distinguish themselves beyond Andersson’s enviable vocal prowess. These tunes aren’t bad, they’re just borderline bland. And coming from a group with the proven ability to write songs that both harken back while pressing forward, I was hoping for more than nostalgia bait when I cranked Lucifer V. This is compounded by instances in otherwise good songs like “The Dead Don’t Speak” and “Slow Dance in a Crypt,” which repeatedly threaten to veer into doomy territory without ever fully committing. Just as these tracks are about to take a slightly heavier (perhaps even logical) turn, they’re suddenly yanked back and sternly reminded that guitars didn’t sound like that in the 1970s.

If I sound unnecessarily harsh, it’s because while I enjoyed and recommend Lucifer V, I can envision the stronger album Lucifer could have produced had they been more willing to embrace just a bit more of their original sound; a sound they flirt with time and time again. There’s no doubt the band is plenty satisfied with the musical direction they’ve taken, yearning as they do for a bygone era. But me? I wouldn’t mind a simple return to 2015.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 192 kbps mp3
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Websites: luciferofficial.bandcamp.com | instagram.com/lucifertheband
Releases Worldwide: January 26th, 2024

#2024 #30 #BlueOysterCult #Coven #DoomMetal #GermanMetal #Ghost #Heart #Jan24 #Kiss #Lucifer #LuciferV #LynyrdSkynyrd #NuclearBlastRecords #OccultRock #Review #Reviews #SwedishMetal #ZZTop

Olhava – Sacrifice Review

By Carcharodon

Russian atmoblack-shoegaze duo Olhava, comprising two-thirds of Trna, has been around since 2016 and already has five full-lengths under their belt. I don’t remember when I first became aware of them but I think I picked up their third record, 2020’s Lagoda, on release. That was a weighty slab of mournful and organic-sounding atmospheric black, which, despite its 71-minute runtime, I enjoyed quite a bit. While I listened to successors Frozen Bloom and Reborn, neither spoke to me much. I think often, for fans of the much trampled-upon atmoblack genre (particularly where it intersects, as Olhava does, with shoegaze), it can be hard to pinpoint why one album works for you and the next is … fine. So much of it depends on the nature and depth of the atmosphere evoked. Clue’s in the title, I guess. So where do Olhava take us on sixth LP, Sacrifice?

Less black metal than Trna, and more evocative synths a la Unreqvited, there is no rushing Olhava. Shimmering soundscapes are what they do, albeit that, where Unreqvited has (at least since 2018’s Mosaic I: L’Amour et L’Ardeur) hints of light and promise in the sound, Olhava is all shades of loss and a sense of hopeless grey. There is also a sense in which, despite there being two intervening LPs, Sacrifice feels like a very deliberate continuation of Lagoda, not least because the “Ageless River” interludes I through V from the latter record, continue onto this one, beginning at “Ageless River VI” and going on to IX. Alternating with the four non-interlude tracks, the “Ageless River”s give a consistent sense of flow, that runs through the record, like a stream through a dark forest. Percussion-free (except for a few sparse beats in “Ageless River IX”), this series focuses on natural, organic sounds and, to a degree, acts as a shoegaze-cleanser between the blackened expressions of loss and hurt that comprise the rest of Sacrifice.

That rest has a sort of ethereal dreaminess to it, which Olhava invites you to get lost in. Andrey Novozhilov’s harsh, rasping vocals surface, sink and resurface again, playing in the middle distance, an additional piece of scenery, rather than a focal point for much of Sacrifice. His work on guitars prioritizes hypnotic repetition and sustained chords over overtly memorable riffs, seeking to gradually infiltrate your consciousness, rather than overwhelm it. Similarly, Timur Yusupov’s work on drums has something of countrymen Grima (on Rotting Garden, particularly) about it, feeling somehow contemplative, despite the heavy use of blasts. The epic “I See Myself in Your Eyes,” at 17 minutes the album’s longest cut, is the highlight, as it shifts through moods, delicate tremolos and synth work, ebbing and flowing alongside drums, which move between deft cymbal work and pounding percussive rhythms.

There is much to appreciate about Sacrifice, at least if you’re a fan of the style, but there’s also a lot of Sacrifice to appreciate. Clocking in at 86 minutes, of which well over 20 minutes is accounted for by the percussion-free instrumental “Ageless River” interludes, there is no way around the fact that this thing is bloated. To be clear, there is nothing I dislike about what Olhava do here, including those interludes, which actually work well to simultaneously break up and stitch together the main canvasses. However, the sheer volume of material here is a problem. The bigger problem, however, is the fact that it is very hard to differentiate between tracks, which coupled with the runtime, weighs heavy on the listener, and not just emotionally. Even “Eternal Fire,” which is probably the most straightforwardly atmoblack piece on the record fails to leave a lasting impact and that is, at least in part, because despite being only the third track proper, we’re already over 45 minutes into the album before it starts. The production does help Sacrifice, feeling light and organic, it is, in that sense at least, a relatively easy listen.

Ever since their tight 40-minute self-titled debut, runtimes on Olhava records have crept up and up, now routinely exceeding an hour in length but, mostly, with diminishing returns. Despite having spent two weeks with Sacrifice, I find myself utterly unable, at any given point, to tell you, even roughly, where I am in its vast reaches. The intrinsic problem isn’t the runtime, however, but rather the evenness of what happens during it. Rather like the cover art, it is richly textured but flat. For all my complaints about the length of, for example, Midnight Odyssey records, they have recognizable, standout moments, which are sorely lacking on Sacrifice. I am disappointed.

Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Avantgarde Music
Websites: olhava.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/olhavaband
Releases Worldwide: January 26th, 2024

#20 #2024 #AtmosphericBlackMetal #AvantgardeMusic #BlackMetal #Gaerea #Grima #Jan24 #MidnightOdyssey #MosaicILAmourEtLArdeur #Olhava #Review #Reviews #RussianMetal #Sacrifice #Shoegaze #TRNA #Unreqvited

Abyssius – Abyssius Review

By Thus Spoke

First things first, that artwork: a hulking antediluvian fish bearing down with spread fins and tangled tentacles on the tiny figure illuminated in the depths. If that doesn’t indicate musical magnitude I don’t know what does. Abyssius, on their debut, self-titled LP, explore the concept of one overcoming the confrontational nature of life’s meaninglessness—just as that behemoth looms, so does the bleak and hollow void. Additionally, The project’s members span the globe from Taiwan, to Norway, to the US, making this conceptual artwork an impressive collaborative effort. And the ambition doesn’t stop there, as the group state an explicit goal of “bring[ing] something new” to the genres of technical and melodic death metal. All very exciting so far, but just what are Abyssius, and Abyssius, made of?

Abyssius belongs to that subgenre of technical death metal concerned first and foremost with melody—in particular, melodies of the high-reaching, major-key inclined variety. Fallujah is an especially close comparison with the album’s recurring synthy plucking and twisting, burbling guitar lines (“Dreadnaught,” “Hollow,” “The Animus and the Anima”). But also close touchstones in this regard are The Zenith Passage and Inanimate Existence, with layered, vaguely dancing themes that drift into major keys as they develop (“Dreadnaught,” “Everfall,” “Nihil”). Yet Abyssius also show their ability to shapeshift through a side of their sound that feels strikingly inspired by The Black Dahlia Murder (“Ripped Apart”). That being said, the core of Abyssius remains somewhat surprisingly hopeful and uplifting. For every passage of melancholia (“Hollow,” “Nihil”) or malevolence (“Ripped Apart”) there are a dozen of buoyant gaiety (“Dreadnaught, “Everfall”), frequently shifting one to the other. And throughout, refrains drive on in the nether zone between urgency and euphony (“Dreadnaught,” “Hollow,” “The Animus…”). These optimistic tones make for an easy listening experience that belies much of the technicality that’s going on.

Because Abyssius is certainly technical, and manages to remain respectably so without straying into tedious wankery. Solos and bridging fills always manage to twist themselves back to the main, uniformly simple refrains, or sometimes keeping their ascendant restlessness to a thematic flourish. And it’s when things appear the most basic that sections really stick—often, encouragingly, occurring on choruses, like the mournful clean-screamed duet on “Nihil,” and the satisfying twin guitar twanging of “Ripped Apart.” Yet while Abyssius clear the hurdle of over-complication in their technicality, they stumble on that of colorlessness. Guitar lines miss the triumphant and gripping, sometimes by inches, and end up falling flat due to their frustrating proximity to greatness (“Dreadnaught,” “The Animus…”). Anodyne meandering dominates songs, at its worst falling into chirruping repetitions that grate with bounciness and sugary tones as they frustratingly take the lead over the briefer, compelling melodies (“Everfall,” “Nihil,” “The Animus…”). This isn’t just my allergy to major keys; even the minor here is either weakened by unmemorable fluttering or diminished by the floaty or jaunty main melodies (“Hollow,” “Nihil,” “The Animus…”). There remains a gap between the compositions Abyssius serve, and the compositions they could have served, with some tweaking.

The technicality, and indeed the breadth of approaches are consistently impressive, but given the persistence of blander, upbeat themes, the whole ends up feeling uneven. This album is tonally all over the shop. With cuts like “Ripped Apart” serving an energetic and assertive urgency, and elements of “Dreadnaught” and “Nihil,” for example, striking with ardency, far too much of the remainder feels practically wishy-washy. The synthesized atmospheric guitars bring some brilliant moments of ambient clarity and presence, but they’re not enough to save compositions from themselves. At least Abyssius know how to edit. Songs, despite their itinerancy, are snappy, and the total runtime only just exceeds half an hour. This makes it easier to forgive the—to me—jarring jumps between bubbly and brutal tones.

Your opinion of Abyssius is very likely going to rest on your preference within technical death metal. But regardless of where one falls on the major-minor key bias or progressive vs cut-throat tech-death spectrums, Abyssius remains a little confused. On the one hand there’s plenty to salvage to make for a decent easy-listen debut. On the other, this feels like too near a miss at most every turn not to be damningly frustrating. Abyssius possess the potential, they just haven’t realized it yet.

Rating: Mixed
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: ~260 kb/s mp3
Label: Self-Released
Websites: abyssius.bandcamp.com |
Releases Worldwide: January 26th, 2024

#25 #2024 #Abyssius #DeathMetal #Fallujah #InanimateExistence #Jan24 #MelodicDeathMetal #ProgMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfReleases #TechnicalDeathMetal #TheZenithPassage

Mega Colossus – Showdown Review

By Eldritch Elitist

Mega Colossus has more fun than your favorite band. Not that it’s much of a contest given the typically joyless answers most metal fans give in response to the “favorite band” question in the name of cred preservation, but it’s true all the same. Nevermind that these North Carolina dudes can’t help but give the widest of grins in their promo shots; though ostensibly traditional metal, undiluted joy permeates their music on a level most power metal bands could not fathom. Unbridled exuberance seeps from every riff, lick, lyric, and vocal hook. It’s a guarantee at this point that each Mega Colossus release will be a celebration of metal and pop culture worth celebrating, and in that respect, Showdown is utterly predictable. Which is to say that it’s fucking fantastic.

Showdown is an expectedly great showing, but that doesn’t mean Mega Colossus hasn’t endeavored to evolve their sound. The band has described Showdown as “hookier” than the preceding Riptime; I disagree, simply because I cannot listen to either record without tripping over a razor-sharp hook every two seconds, but it is a notably warmer and more colorful experience. Kansas and Rainbow are cited as melodic inspirations, which is evident on “Wicked Road” for anyone who’s ever listened to “Carry On my Wayward Sun” (that’s you reading this). Showdown’s resulting chords and harmonies feel classic and effervescent, with sections often veering closer to raucous hard rock (especially “Fortune and Glory” and “Showdown”) than heavy metal. Showdown is still metal through and through, but Mega Colossus’s refined approach feels refreshingly distinct in the wider trad metal canon.

Classic rock influences aside, Showdown finds Mega Colossus as kinetic as ever, their riffs relentlessly diving and ascending with gleeful fervor. This is especially true for the record’s downright breathless A-side, and double especially true for the prog-power-thrash epic “Grab the Sun.” A brilliant musical retelling of Mad Max: Fury Road, “Grab the Sun” lyrically alternates viewpoints between Nux and Furiosa in a cyclical structure that mimics the film’s plot. It’s a propulsive and uplifting listening experience, and an early contender for my Song o’ the Year. This song signals the end of Showdown’s first half, and its second half, while no less excellent than the first, is relatively muted in terms of energy. This is Showdown’s sole drawback: its pacing dips on the back end, and I can’t help but wonder whether a simple restructuring of the track list would greatly preserve its momentum.

The reason Showdown remains so goddamn compelling through to its conclusion, despite its mild pacing woes, lies in the brilliance of guitarists Bill Fischer and Chris Millard. Their sole rule is seemingly “no boring riffs ever”, and while this has always been the case with Mega Colossus, their playing has never been so richly textured or densely layered. Even the relatively mellow “Wicked Road” is juiced with sparking, colorful lead flourishes at every turn, constantly demanding the listener’s attention. And if the guitars somehow cannot fully command you, Sean Buchanan’s voice will surely finish the job, as he remains one of the cleanest and most distinctive singers in the scene. There’s an undefined nerdy twang to his pipes that makes him a perfect fit for a band that writes songs about both Face/Off (“Showdown”) and Porco Rosso (“Take to the Skies”) on the same album.

Mega Colossus’s most recent releases have been bolstered by modern production that is far from the norm in the current traditional metal climate, and I interpret this engineering choice as an extension of their implied philosophy: fun at the expense of all trends. Showdown’s crisp soundscape is a reflection of the revelry that permeates its songwriting from top to bottom, an addictiveness further bolstered by its brisk thirty-eight-minute runtime. It’s difficult to say at this stage whether Showdown is Mega Colossus’s strongest effort, but what I can say for certain is that it has, seemingly impossibly, improved in my estimations with every single one of my fifteen-ish spins. Even if you’re like me and you typically put traditional heavy metal recommendations near the bottom of your priority list, I implore you to give Showdown a listen, as it’s sure to be one of the most entertaining records of the year in any genre.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Cruz del Sur Music Official | Bandcamp
Websites: music.meltedfaces.com (Bandcamp) | facebook.com/colossusmetal
Releases Worldwide: January 26th, 2024

#2024 #40 #AmericanMetal #CruzDelSurMusic #HeavyMetal #Jan24 #MetalColossus #PowerMetal #Review #Reviews #Showdown

Blood Red Throne – Nonagon Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier

Three years ago, Blood Red Throne released a behemoth in the form of Imperial Congregation. After dozens of listens, it proves it’s one of the band’s greatest achievements. Fast forward to 2024, and they’re back with their eleventh LP, Nonagon. Continuing where they left off, Nonagon is a destructive motherfucker that incorporates the butchery of Panzerchrist, the relentless riffage of Old Man’s Child, and the melodic subtleties of Hypocrisy. But, no matter what’s sprinkled throughout, Nonagon remains 100% BRT. However, the thing most different about this new album is the vocalist. After contributing to four full-lengths, Yngve “Bolt” Christiansen is out, and in his place is Deception’s Sindre Wathne Johnsen. The result is more vocal diversity as Johnsen likes to flex those blackened rasps. But those concrete-cracking barks and gutturals Bolt is famous for remain—continuing to add a sinister color to BRT’s output. With a new singer in tow, can BRT continue the streak set by Fit to Kill and Imperial Congregation? Or are the treads beginning to come off the tracks?

As the name might suggest, Nonagon consists of nine songs of Norwegian death metal. What might not be apparent is that each track represents a level of hell from Dante’s Inferno. But this theme only translates in the music and album structure. According to founding member Død, the vocals are very much the band’s, leaving you to interpret the meaning behind them. With this knowledge, I venture into the underworld with Virgil leading the way as the devastation increases at each level until I arrive at Cocytus. Or so I hope, as this is quite the theme to encapsulate a death metal album. And for it to fall flat on its face would be the worst thing possible. Well, minus that whole sliding down Lucifer only to stop and peer at his massive dick and balls.

But instead of easing into the first layer, Nonagon gets going in a hurry. “Epitaph Inscribed” is one of the better songs on the album, beginning with an eerie introduction that erupts into a rasping scream and killer riff. While nothing new to the band, the overlapping rasps and barks are far more advanced than previous releases. These add another layer to the barrage delivered by the combined efforts of bass, drums, and guitars. Others that hit the mark in wildly different ways are “Tempest Sculptor” and the title track. “Tempest Sculptor” is a classic BRT piece with machine gun tremolos that settle into a tasty, headbangable groove. While there’s variety in the riff changes and a melodic interlude, this beast is a constant driver that never lets up. My favorite moment is when the bass comes to the surface and sets the song up for its next bludgeoning. “Nonagon” is a slow-paced cruiser with some interesting moments that remind me of At the Gates while others recall Amon Amarth. It’s a straightforward piece that keeps to its guns and delivers a pleasing and addictive performance.

Unfortunately, there are a few areas on Nonagon that I struggle with. The first is the nearly seven-minute closer, “Fleshrend.” While there’s absolutely no shortage of riffs, that’s part of the problem. The track is an endless slew of riff changes. And when it feels like it’s about to build to its climax, it changes directions again. After all the insanity and wild guitar skills, it concludes without delivering the uppercut I was hoping for. In contrast, “Blade Eulogy” takes all its various riff changes and, somehow, makes it work by melding them neatly into a memorable and returnable song. As for “Split Tongue Sermon,” its more-than-capable addition to Nonagon is flatlined by a dreadful electronic solo and spoken-word segment toward the end.

Nonagon is still a strong album and in no way a bad record. It’s just not at the same level as Imperial Congregation. Typically, a killer BRT album grabs me on the first listen, but Nonagon took a while to absorb. Much of that is due to the urge to shove every goddamn riff available into these nine tracks. As I mentioned, a few of these songs could have been better with a little more restraint and a bit more memorability. The other is that, while many of the top songs are belligerently badass, few meet the standards set by songs like Imperial Congregation’s “Itika” and “Consumed Illusion.” That said, Nonagon isn’t a misstep in the band’s catalog. It’s just different, as the focus is on a concept that requires flow and overlap between songs instead of a face-punching display of unchecked wiolence. All this to say, there’s no reason why fans won’t enjoy this new record. It just falls a tad short of the monster that is Imperial Congregation but it still finds the band crushing their performances with a solid mix to boot.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Soulseller Records | Bandcamp1
Websites: bloodredthrone.bandcamp.com2 | bloodredthrone.com | facebook.com/bloodredthroneofficial
Releases Worldwide: January 26th, 2024

#2024 #30 #AmonAmarth #AtTheGates #BloodRedThrone #DeathMetal #Deception #Hypocrisy #Jan24 #Nonagon #NorwegianMetal #OldManSChild #Panzerchrist #Review #Reviews #SoulsellerRecords

Show N Tell – The Ritual Has Begun Review

By Steel Druhm

I’m a child of the maelstrom that was 80s metal. I was learning what I enjoyed musically during the embryonic days of MTV, and in those early years that channel force-fed me a steady diet of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Saxon, and Def Leppard videos. The 80s metal sound is encoded into my DNA and if you hit me hard enough, old fanzine ink leaks out. This makes me the demographic for what Phoenix Arizona’s Show N Tell are selling on their The Ritual Has Begun debut. This is 100% unabashedly retro metal with a carbon date of 1982-83, when American metal acts were taking the NWoBHM sound and speeding it up. Their style is like a hodge-podge of party rock, speed, and hair metal and it’s as infectious as a beer-borne Chlamydia. Good times are promised and delivered by the sudsy bucketful, and Steel is here for it. But in the middle of this rowdy toga party, just as I hoist the largest beer mug ever known to mankind, trouble starts banging on the door.

As soon as opener “Rip N Tear” takes flight and begins to rip and tear, you know this is going to a be wild, woolly album full of throwback excess and overkill. The guitars churn, the drums pound away with reckless abandon, and everything feels electric and alive. And then David Rodriguez crashes the party to start singing, screaming, and caterwauling. The man has a ton of energy and he totally goes for it, trying to recapture that 80s sound as Enforcer and Skull Fist have in recent years. But Enforcer have the good fortune of being fronted by Olof Wikstrand, while Show N Tell have a frontman with considerably less control and natural singing ability. Rodriguez can hit the upper range hard, but I’m not sure he hits many/any notes or keys along the way, frequently wandering off the music sheet entirely. And yet the songs and the music are so spot-on, these egregious vocal misadventures almost don’t matter. “Run to the Light” is so much damn fun, Richard Nixon or Gilbert Gottfried could sing on it and I’d still dig it. Same for “Night Stalker,” which is so 80s that it sucks some of my household belongings into a space/time rupture. Yes, Mr. Rodriguez can make these songs hurt in bad ways as they charm in good ways, but Bittersweet is a food group, right?

There’s a song on here simply titled “Heavy Metal” and it’s so much fucking fun it will make you smile, laugh, and punch your friend in the ear. It’s so anthemic, dumb, and embarrassing, but you know what? Who the fuck cares? It’s like Saxon turned to 15 with Lizzy Borden on vocals and I’m going to play this until my someday nursing home finds a way to unplug every device I smuggle into that urine-soaked hellhole. Also highly entertaining is “I’m Alive” where Mr. Rodriguez screams loud enough for the Klingon Empire to lock onto him and fire a Shut Up torpedo. Sure, not every song is spun gold even without the “talents” of the vocalist interfering. “All Alone Tonight” has a smoldering mood but fails at being a rough-edged power ballad ever so slightly, and closer, “The Second Death” is too long, despite some tasty Crimson Glory-esque fire in its makeup. There are also some production issues, with songs like the title track and “All Alone Tonight” moving the vocals further back in the mix, like the album was recorded in several different studios. Troubles aside, at just shy of 42 minutes, The Ritual Has Begun is a brisk time heist with hooky writing and slick musicianship.

Daniel Dobbs and David Rodriguez fill the album with pure 80s guitar glory as speedy riffs and hard rock ideas share time. The guitar work is the star here and it reeks of 80s nostalgia. The writing is often very good and there are several songs I like a lot. Now we come back to the vocals. Mr. Rodriguez delivers the high-pitch pyrotechnics that were so common to 80s metal, and he has an impressive range, roughly channeling both Olof Wikstrand and Skull Fist’s Zach Slaughter.1 However, his actual singing is often badly off-key, and when the tin ear of Lord Steel notices, you’re really off the map. His upper-range wailing can also become irritating when he overdoes it, which is always. He’s somehow charming nonetheless, and the guy could be a good frontman with some training and a tranq dart or six. For now though, he’s a loose cannon playing with nitroglycerine and lighter fluid.

I’ve struggled to score this one fairly. The songs speak to me and I love the sound and the energy. Take away the vocal missteps and this would be a mainstay in the House ov Steel for many a month, but the negatives shoot it in the foot, ass, and chestal region. I think Show N Tell have real potential. They just need to get Mr. Rodriguez some tutoring time. Invest for success and then show and tell again. I’ll listen.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: No Remorse
Websites: show-n-tell.band | facebook.com/officialshowNtell
Releases Worldwide: January 29th, 2024

#25 #2024 #Enforcer #HeavyMetal #Jan24 #NoRemorseRecords #Review #Reviews #ShowNTell #SkullFist #SpeedMetal #TheRitualHasBegun

Madder Mortem – Old Eyes, New Heart Review

By GardensTale

Angry Metal Guy might be the only place on the internet where Madder Mortem won’t need an introduction for a significant amount of its readers. The Norwegian band first made waves here with Red in Tooth and Claw, and those waves got much bigger with Marrow earning a well-deserved 4.5 and topping several lists. It’s also the only band with a movie review on the site. When there is no news on the band I still can’t stop name-dropping them, even when it’s not relevant to the music I’m reviewing. So when I contacted the band to send them the movie review and they told me they were in the middle of recording a new album, my inner hype machine went into overdrive. That was over 2.5 years ago. Part of this delay was production woes, but on top of that, the band’s lead siblings Agnete (vocals) and BP (guitars and mixing/mastering) Kirkevaag lost their father Jacob in February last year.1

Madder Mortem’s sound, for those not in the know, is a rather unique blend of progressive, gothic, and alternative metal. With the knowledge that the band’s gone through a turbulent period in their personal lives, I did expect the loss and the worry to reflect in the gothic pillar of their sound, and in a few instances it does. “Here and Now” is a spellbinding song full of beautiful, warm guitars plucked in complex arpeggios, occasionally erupting into heart-rending riff-storms, Agnete wailing ’And now my heart will break!’. Album centerpiece and highlight “Cold Hard Rain” adds a bucket of atmospheric doom and incessant background intonations of the song title to exacerbate the air of hopelessness, until the enormous finale bludgeons you to a pulp with love and comfort and the band’s best riff since “Hangman.”2

But I was caught off guard by the amount of furious defiance across Old Eyes. The other major highlight is single “Towers” which takes a trebuchet to emotional walls, raging against the indignity of not being allowed to see the full heart of a loved one (’Give me the joy, the hate, the tears, not fucking platitudes’). It’s a poignant assault after early track “On Guard,” rendered in quiet Americana, posits how someone might want to share, but can’t let go of the hurt of the past. These clashing relationships are at the heart of Old Eyes. Most tracks are lyrically aimed at a ‘you,’ with the exception of opener “Coming From the Dark” which feels more like a holdover from Marrow than a proper part of this album. It’s a decent track, but it and “Master Tongue” are not quite up to the level of the latter half, leaving the quality a tad back-loaded.

Though Madder Mortem always focuses on the feeling, their technical achievements continue to improve even 25 years into their recording history. Old Eyes is replete with understated excellence, from the serpentine bass of “Master Tongue” to the undulating leads on “Unity.” Agnete sounds as great as ever, projecting confidence and fragility at different turns and convincing with every syllable. BP has once again handled the production, and from a brief conversation in October ‘22 I know it has been an uphill battle, but the results don’t lie. Everything sounds fantastic. The master is spacious but warm, the guitars are thick and crunchy, the bass has great heft. Even the mix is practically flawless. Agnete’s voice sits comfortably in the center without overpowering the music, and even when the amount of layers gets piled on (“Cold Hard Rain”) everything remains perfectly balanced.

Madder Mortem has always excelled at emotional depth and complexity beyond the obvious. Old Eyes, New Heart comes on the heels of a difficult personal time for the band, and the catharsis is palpable throughout the music, despair and defiance fighting for the listener’s heart. It’s not quite as consistent as Marrow, but in a way that helps shape the sense of urgency. More than the record the band wanted to write, it feels like the record the band had to write, a fierce treatise that defends love and acceptance in the face of unending desperation. Acoustic closer “Long Road” ends on a poignant note: ’Maybe there’s hope of peace at the end of the long slow road’. I hope that’s true. But in the meantime, Old Eyes, New Heart will stand as one of the most intimate and therapeutic albums we’re bound to get this year.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 11 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Dark Essence Records
Websites: maddermortem.bandcamp.com | maddermortem.com | facebook.com/mmortem
Releases Worldwide: January 26th, 2024

#2024 #40 #AlternativeMetal #DarkEssenceRecords #GothicMetal #Jan24 #MadderMortem #NorwegianMetal #OldEyesNewHeart #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews

Caligula’s Horse – Charcoal Grace Review

By Dolphin Whisperer

You never know which bands are going to pull together seemingly disparate minds, whether it be the starving prog fans who can’t agree on anything or the ever-diverging wiles of our own Angry Metal Overlord and Kronos—the polished professor and the angular dreamer. But more so than any other band in the modern progscape, Caligula’s Horse does just that, bridging the gap of the jittery, sweep-starved guitar lover; the hug-craving, sunset-staring sadboi; the chorus-hook, bravado-stricken empath, all with a brand of progressive metal that’s grown alongside genre titans Haken and Leprous in curious, somewhat convergent ways. But these Aussie alt-rock-leaning proggers continue to paint with broader strokes, cement their identity separately, and avoid heavy djentrification by maintaining a sweeping, cinematic focus. The feels come first on this conceptual carriage.

Prancing like studious steeds, Caligula‘s Horse has drifted down a lane of increasing pleasantness from their rockier roots, each adventure whittling away the screeching, squealing, and shredding tones of their guitar love—the trap of adopting the impact of modern chuggery. However, in that further compressed thump and groove, Caligula’s Horse has managed both to break a Karnivool-ish catchiness into their alt-ered state (Bloom, 2015) and whip it further with heart-fluttering fantasy (In Contact,1 2017). In some ways, then, 2020’s Rise Radiant felt like a misstep, with the band refocusing again on finding a wider-reaching prog rock hypnotism, growing soaring choruses from choppier, bass-heavy patterns like you’d hear on a later-era Soen outing or mid-period Haken piece. And in those same ways Charcoal Grace finds a head-bobbing jangle (“The World Breathes Without Me,” “Golem”) and swelling, stadium-sized chorus (“The Stormchaser”). But, reaching a step back to In Contact, Caligula’s Horse decided that Charcoal Grace must also tell a patchwork tale of loss and longing.

“I just wish that you would answer, just once” vocalist Jim Grey drips in a cool-kicking, musical theater fashion, twenty-four minutes into Charcoal Grace during “A World Without”—that’s a long time to wait for the first real lacrimal tickle. Grey spends a good chunk at the front with his gruff croon cut through radio filters (“The World Breathes…”) or pushing a Maynard James Keenan-certified aggressive whisper rap (“Golem,” “Prey”), which reduces the human pull that he’s so capable of finding. With a four-part suite sandwiched in between two ten-minute plus bookends and a handful of thematically related songs, the written and vocal narrative should drop easier story nuggets than it does.2 Pulling on the same swell of vibrant orchestrations, sweeping melodies, to heavy rock crescendos, the central journey still lands with “Give Me Hell” (and reprised intensity on “The Stormchaser”) possessing the same bravado of a young Pain of Salvation affair.3 It just takes a while to get there.

“Feet firm on the mountain with no voice to speak, and nothing left to say” Grey blares with a vulnerable focus for the thunderous closer “Mute,” whose various instrumental decorations display what Caligula’s Horse accomplish best in this sorrowful collection of vignettes: musical cohesion. Save for principle banger “Golem,” primary songwriter and guitarist Sam Vallen flexes his compositional chops throughout recurring motifs that flitter about the introductions of songs to signal that they belong in this Charcoal Grace world. In extended cuts, intro “The World Breathes…” and closer “Mute,” Vallen warps the core melodies to each through the play of lush orchestral backings, carefully placed piano accompaniment, and guest flute arrangement, to allow each recollection to stoke a fiery apex. The atmospheric qualities throughout Charcoal Grace resemble that of an instrumental artist like Plini, so while they may not always feel like a movie with the best dialogue, they do feel like home.

Loving this album could have been easy, but Caligula’s Horse needed to find an outlet over the past few years, just as we all did. Charcoal Grace, in that sense, carries the trademarked humanistic scarring, that hard-to-mask reality that separates this band from its peers. You can’t call this rough around the edges by any means—it’s delicate and elegant and extravagant and almost fluorescent in its brightness. You can’t call this stumbling—it’s assembled and referential and efforted and truly ambitious in its reach. That’s just it. Charcoal Grace reaches. And it grips me a lot—sometimes not at all—sometimes I pull away. It lives, just like you and me, just like those who created it. And, as I often tell myself when I stare into the mirror at the hardest times of this life, I wish it were better.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Inside Out Music | Bandcamp
Websites: caligulashorse.com | facebook.com/caligulashorseband
Releases Worldwide: January 26th, 2024

#2024 #30 #AlternativeRock #AustralianMetal #CaligulaSHorse #CharcoalGrace #Haken #InsideOutMusic #Jan24 #Karnivool #Leprous #PainOfSalvation #Plini #ProgressiveMetal #ProgressiveRock #Review #Reviews #Soen #Tool

Necrotum – Defleshed Exhumation Review

By Steel Druhm

I cannot claim familiarity or history with Romanian death metal act Necrotum, but the promo sump was shallow in January and an album title like Defleshed Exhumation was sure to catch the eye of Steel even in more target-rich environs. This is the band’s third full-length effort and it features a sound sitting at the crossroads of tech/prog/OSDM. Their earlier releases were much more traditional caveman death, but here on Defleshed, it seems like the boys wanted to stretch themselves and try some new things. This newfound progressive leaning gives the material a heavy, yet unpredictable style, like classic Suffocation mixed with the latest Tomb Mold. The template is quite promising, but can these old school dogs learn enough new tricks to keep things interesting and under control or will the wheels come off the death bus with no one around to Asphyx them?

Leading the charge with very downtuned guitars, opener “Warped in Entrails” (yes, I thought it should be “wrapped” too) comes out swinging and tries to bulldoze you into a mass grave with heavy grooves accented by fancy time signatures and frequent tempo shifts. There are bits of classic Cryptopsy in the sound and the band can play their instruments well, with an enjoyable lunacy and exuberance to the music, but little of it sticks. “Noxious Breeze” tries to walk that delicate line between straight-up brutal death and proggy/techy fare and falls off both sides along the way, though the flashes of Nile-esque guitar noodling are quite cool. When they restain their proggy impulses and shove heavy, ugly grooves up your Hersey highway as they do on “Dissolved in the Flesh Pits,”1 things get slightly more memorable, and the uber-low, burly riffs sometimes smack like Dying Fetus. “Mouldered Orb” is also a touch more immediate, though not exactly hooky.

Unfortunately, roughly half of Defleshed Exhumation leaves me staring vacantly at the walls of my office/holding cell. Cuts like “Shattered Flow of Time” and “Psychotic Apparations” are stock standard examples of tech death without much to trigger replays, and the album ends with a needless cover of Demigod’s “As I Behold I Despise.” Considering the album is just over 36 minutes, the fact they needed a cover to pad it out is troubling. Had I been asked to guess the album length, I would have said it ran much longer, which is generally not a good omen. The production is fine for the style though, with the guitars delivering a very low-end, oppressive impact, crushing your fat face from can-see to can’t-see. There’s a nice heavy punch to the drum sound as well.

This is a talented trio who have command of their instruments. Robert Brezean’s guitar work is impressive and he manages to cast off all manner of herky-jerky, jitter-inducing leads as well as the big, road-paving grooves. Alex Tampu is a fury behind the kit, doing everything he can to propel the music through your skull, and Filip Garlonta’s vocals are appropriately guttural and sick, though very one-note. Unfortunately, these individually solid pieces don’t come together often enough to form memorable songs. They try to do too much too often and the songs end up too cluttered and frenetic. Also bringing the album down are the downtuned guitars that make the material resemble deathcore pablum and this becomes tiring by the album’s halfway point.

Necrotum have talent and potential and their earlier works are quite entertaining, but the switch from more basic OSDM to the flashy, proggy style here hasn’t done them any favors. There’s a good EP buried in Defleshed Exhumation, but wrenching it out would require more effort than I’m willing to expend. I’ll keep an eye on what the band does going forward but my time will be spent with their early platters, not this one. Hardened tech death fiends may get greater mileage from this than I did though. Guard those Necrotums, boys.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Memento Mori
Websites: necrotumdeathmetal.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/necrotumdm
Releases Worldwide: January 22nd, 2024

#25 #2024 #Cryptopsy #DeathMetal #DefleshedExhumation #Jan24 #MementoMoriRecords #Necrotum #Review #Reviews #RomanianMetal #Suffocation