I have interviewed Ralf before, reviewed all of his bands, and have talked to him on the phone as well. The man loves death metal, and the Revel in Flesh breakup did not last long, as he put a new band together last year. He brought in Simon Abele (Inner Earth) on guitars, current Rotpit drummer Erik Barthold,

But how do you still capture that Boss HM-2 Pedal classic Swedish death metal tone, Revel in Flesh is known for???? Well, you bring in a longtime veteran and who I consider a friend, Jonny Pettersson, to handle the bass and, most importantly, the buzzsaw guitars. The man is in a ton of current and past bands. Current and past, check out this man’s resume: Henry Kane, Massacre, Heads For The Dead, Rotpit, Wombbath…I mean, I can go on all day. He is another death metal worshipper, and he knows this style of death metal amazingly well. So much so that the Revel in Flesh sound is preserved, mastered, and in some ways a bit angrier on this sixth album. I reviewed their last album, The Hour of the Avenger, and hot damn, that sucker is heavy AF. That was a tough one to beat. Flesh for the Kult of Death beats it.

No cute intro, just a total ‘Fuck You’, we are back. The title track erupts. Getting right into the speed, it’s not long before a brutal blast beat is tossed in. Ralf sounds great, throaty, and alters his vocals back to Revel in Flesh, as he does sing a tad differently in the other bands he is in. There is an exceedingly strong Dismember – Like An Ever Flowing Stream guitar tone on this album, and it’s monstrous. The main tempo of the galloping is sure to keep the headbanger happy. There are a few moments of slowdown with the atmosphere and beautiful guitar harmonies. Melodious, and that is what Jonny knows how to toss in, amongst the brutality.

“Bodybag Inferno” is next with a scorching opening guitar riff that is pounding heaviness. Slow, groovy, and will see some pits moving about here and there. The isolated guitar riff around the 2.20 section is excellent as it gives way to the isolated bass guitar. This stop-and-start moment is a great testament to the rhythm section. It will be a true test to play this sucker live. This is a great middle of the live set song.

“Pool of Blood” brings forth the speed. The buildup is short and right into a blast beat, then into a monumental galloping attack. Then right back into a brutal blast beat. Stupendous lead guitars and soloing. More blast beats, and this is a full-throttle death metal assault on the senses.

“Priest of Flesh” offers a slower and more melodic edge that the band has now incorporated on this new album. This song is moody and has a great double bass rumbling heaviness during the mid-paced moments. Guitar harmonies throughout this song, and quite honestly, some spoken word moments, would have actually worked if they had tried it out. The song gallops towards the end with an ethereal, emotive section that calls to mind what fellow countrymen, Chapel of Disease, started doing on their later albums. Truly is amazing.

The band always closes out with a cover song, and this time it’s Crowbar’s “All I Had (I Gave)”. A very heavy original song, and it’s great to hear the Dismember guitar tone in this song. All the elements and pacing of the original are intact, and Ralf lets loose on some extra growling. Such a fun cover.

Flesh for the Kult of Death is not only a terrific return and improved Revel in Flesh I am very happy to see the band continuing with their color-themed covers. This time we get blue, and the artwork is amazing as the reaper makes a return on this album, as it presides over the festivities.

The production and musicianship are impeccable. I am wondering if the band will be laid to rest maybe next year? The song preceding the Crowbar cover is called “The Last Farewell”, which I am unsure insinuates in any way that this is the last Revel in Flesh album? I am just speculating. Suffice it to say, this album owns and must be in your collection pronto!

“Trait d’Union” has an excellent opening sequence with an Atheist Unquestionable Presence influence on the sound and texture. The instrumentation is superb, with terrific bass lines. Andrea Feltrin has a great set of pipes that will have you thinking of Martin van Drunen. Powerful and enunciated well. The 2.15 section gets right into a blast beat, as the song had been galloping previously. Killer guitar solos and some deep spoken word moments are throughout the song. The rhythm section is on fire!

“Vision” is up next, and once again that bass guitar sound is tremendous, with its techy and proggy plucking away. Jean Claude Rossignol does a tremendous job. Spoken word vocals enter around the two-minute mark, and there is a little bit of a duet, as the growly vocals seem to answer the spoken word moments. Creative. Impressive signature time changes, and any fan of Pestilence/Gorguts/Death/Atheist in the 1991 time period is going to salivate at this album. And if you do not have the debut, you are going to want that pronto! This song is very complex but also very catchy.

“Synaptic Cortex Dissection” starts things off slower as the song has a great crunchy guitar riff, with phenomenal vocals. Thinking I am going to see Martin van Drunen did the vocals on this, I mean, close your eyes and listen to this, to see what I mean. Some stupendous drum work, prior to the 90-second mark, is going to have you thinking of Neal Peart from Rush. Feltrin’s drum work is some of the best I have heard in years. This may be the best drum work, thus far, on any 2026 release. The song gallops along, and the moment at 3.36, with the guitar harmonies and rhythm section, is godly.

“Mirage” closes the album with some extraordinary musicianship, and the double pounding blast at the minute mark will have you headbanging furiously. The song settles into a slower death/thrash gallop with some Cynic madness and guitar soloing. This is mainly an instrumental; however, the whispered vocals throughout the song are mesmerizing. Some growls enter into the picture, as the song fades with classical instrumentation to close this album out.

Reminiscence may be the best walk down memory lane of all those bands I mentioned, in recent memory. Miscreance injects a fire and spirit into this technical wizardry of death metal. Sure, the thrash elements are present, but this is death metal through and through. The musicianship is top-notch and not something I would expect from a band this young. The album cover captures the music, with the swirling and layered moments throughout this album. Just like the album cover, the music is a work of art. What an amazing band.

It’s been since 2019 that Austin’s Trench Warfare released their debut album, Hatred Prayer, and finally the underground gets to rejoice on album #2, Achtung! Destroy The Weak.

A bunch has transpired since the debut album in the band’s camp. The recording lineup and current band lineup are a bit different. The debut album was recorded with Jay H. Gorania on vocals, Tony Goyang Jr. and Dustin Putz on guitars, Jake Holmes on bass, and Ronnie Parmer (Malevolent Creation, Brutality, Amon, etc) on drums.

The current line-up is Jay on vocals, Dustin on guitars, and JP Campo on drums. The current lineup hails from Texas and Oregon, and their debut was suitably brutal with nods to Morbid Angel, Terrorizer, Dismember, and some black metal nods and thrashing too. This new one is a whole different animal. As taken from the promo description: The album was recorded at Come And Track It Studios in Austin, Texas, by John Petri and Justin McClenny, and mixed by none other than Jarrett Pritchard in Florida. This production slays.

“Follow the Circling Vultures” starts with a filthy guitar riff right into the old-school blasting, with Jay sounding a bit more like Martin Van Drunen on this, if MVD also went a little hardcore. Supremely powerful and brutal, Ronnie’s drumming is exceedingly tight and destructive. So yes, some Malevolent Creation influence creeps into this sucker in that respect, because of the increased intensity. This opening song is relentless. This is how you open up your new album after being away for so long. The guitar tone also takes on a Terrorizer tone, so there is a little grind element to the guitar riffs.

If “Dissenter” is not in the band’s upcoming live shows, then I will have to challenge Jay to an arm-wrestling contest. This song has a huge Terrorizer tone and influence on it, in terms of the song length, blasting, and filth. This song is catchy, and the riffs are memorable, with enough time changes to swivel your head clean off your pathetic shoulders.

“Embrace the Flames”, at over five minutes, is long, but encompasses the band’s full sound. Dirty guitar riffing, monster double pounding blasts, and some black metal slow down riffing prior to the minute mark, then right into the fast parts. The song slows down more that gets into the faster realms. Intense. We even get some guitar solos, and the double bass drums are mixed perfectly. They will collapse your chest cavity in a nanosecond or less. Jay sounds like a madman in this song, and this is pure aggression.

“Gluttonous Feast of Perversion” features a nice doomy opening riff for a while that pounds you into dust, as if George “The Animal” Steele is stuffing that turnbuckle down your throat. The speed comes in, then an old-school, early 90’s drum pattern that has Morbid Angel all over it. The midsection part has atmosphere, barking vocals, some cool harmonies, and allows the listener to catch their breath for a moment. This is a beatdown, pit-heaving moment as well.

The title track ends this highly intense album. There is plenty of blasting and high-intensity moments, and about ¾ of the way through, the slower moments take over for a bit. Heavy, moody, and punishing, this moment is one of the best on the album, then more blasting.

Achtung! Destroy The Weak is brutal. With a minimalistic album cover design, Trench Warfare comes out of the starting gates and never really lets up on this. Some of the slower and moodier moments, the band should expand upon and stick with those elements, rather than blasting right after them, all the time. It just makes the faster parts more intense and abrupt slower moments more of that gut punch we all want when listening to brutal music. Aside from this, the songs are catchy, brutal, and this is so frickin’ vicious. Welcome back, fellas!

There has been a bit of a shift in some of the writing, with the band incorporating more technical and progressive moments. For one, the band opens with “Guillotine Horizon”, with an acoustic opening moment. A far cry from what I was expecting. It does not last long as the brutal blasts and pinch harmonics come in, with the musical landscape taking on more of a tech approach. Tyler’s vocals are excellent, with his varying brutal tones as the brutality bludgeons us. The 2.07 section is technical with the guitar solo. The song shifts to a brutal beatdown slam and then clean vocals. What the hell? Fans of this brutal band better be open to new ideas. For me, these new influences are enhancements to the band’s overall sound. And the mastering from Alan Douches makes this the best Torturous Inception has ever sounded.

“Do What You Will Then Die” is up next, showcasing the progressive and technical aspects the band is throwing at us. Then the brutal blasts and Tyler’s filthy vocals take over to slap us from one side of the pit to the other. Some polyrhythms are tossed in with the start and stop oft-kilter drumming. The brutality flourishes with the blasts, the technical moments, the slow grooving slams, and moodier moments. The blasting and technical aspects do take on more of what Job For A Cowboy is doing nowadays.

“Crushed by the Weight of Hubris” has a great opening gallop, taking me back to 1991. The song rolls into a blast, slows down with aggressive vocals and gutturals. There is some dual layering of the vocal tones, and it takes on a Glen Benton – Deicide vibe. The song slows down with softer vocals and more atmosphere, to the death metal. Killer blasts ignite, then the song slows down, with quite a badass guitar riff. Yet another winner of a song.

“I Am What Remains” ends the album, and I think this is more of a realized version of what we may come to hear from the band in the future. Technical, slower moments, but no less heavy. Clean vocals over the blasts, with influences from The Faceless and Fallujah, the band is incorporating a lot more into their cache. There is plenty of brutality and squealing guitars alongside the progressive and technical nature of this song. This song is the band’s most mature and creative song to date. I will go further by saying this is one of the best songs they have written.

Life’s Worth, even at a brief 27 minutes, is the step forward Torturous Inception needed to take in order to separate from all the brutal slam bands in the Northeast section of the States. The music is more intricate and creative, and while I love all their past material, this is the band’s greatest achievement. This is forward-thinking, and I must say the clean vocal moments work exceedingly well during the parts they are inserted. The band is on fire vocally and musically, creating some complicated song structures. Amazing album, fellas!!

Hydrophilous Brood is their Willowtip Records debut, and this is eight songs in thirty-eight minutes. The band packs a ton of time changes, technicality, and brutality into these tongue-twister-named songs. “Nebulous Appendages of Vacillant Seafoam” begins with a short sci-fi intro, which gets right into the guttural growl, and the song blasts along. Allen is a damn good drummer, and he even lends some guitar solos on tracks 5 and 6. He’s also in like a bajillion bands, Tombseeker and Sanguinary Consummation, just to name a few. Garry has a variety of vocal tones, and the influences from Antti from Demilich and Phlegeton, from Wormed, are highly evident in the filthy, burpee gutturals. The time changes and brutality, in this song, are a thing of beauty.

“Driftmoth Vivisector” begins monstrously with the opening blasts and some creative galloping moments, and then goes back into the ruthless blasting. Excellent isolated guitar riff that erupts into a blast beat. You will enjoy the excellent guitar harmonies and the brutal madness, really calling to mind Wormed and Demilich. I love the varying vocal tones and the complexity of the space-themed brutality. We are even greeted with some gravity blasts.

“Biohybrid Virulence” has soft galloping moments, then brutal time changes with the music blasting at full force with mind-boggling instrumentation. The snare drum is able to cut through all the heaviness and has a deep, resonating sound. It is mixed in quite well. The throw-up type of growl at the 1.15 section is pretty gnarly as the proggy moment erupts. The killer double bass comes in over the ethereal/prog moments, and the start and stop moments are played with conviction. Such a great song.

“Serene Aqueous Leech” ends the album. Slow opening moments with jazzy moments. Think of lounge music to get a picture of what is happening in the beginning. Then, at the 55-second marker, that jazzy lounge section turns into the jazz circle pit from hell. The brutality is on full display with the swirling blast beats, and they are fast AF. Pinch harmonics sweep right in to realign your back in 0.0 seconds. The massive amount of time changes is enough to drive you mad and is super creative. The song eventually slows down and ends, kind of how it started.

Hydrophilous Brood is a most excellent release by Sallow Moth. From the trippy and fantasy-laden album cover to a warm and inviting production, this band is class. Super guttural brutality, with tons of time changes and interesting musical passages. Sallow Moth is creative and one of the better, lesser-known, underground bands. You must give this band a listen; they have conviction and are ruthless!

Where Souls Go To Die is their 12-song, 44-minute-long debut album, and it’s pretty much a ripper from start to finish. Whereas Hatriot is Bay Area thrash, with a few sprinklings of death metal, Plague Ritual falls more into the melodic death metal genre; however, those Bay Area thrash leanings do come into play on various songs, as well as early Floridian death metal.

“Pestilential” is a short intro, which is kinda cool, as the ambient sounds and chanting let us know that “In Wrath” will take us on a journey into madness. With a killer isolated guitar riff that erupts into a mid-paced heaviness with blistering double bass, the song then gets into a blast beat. The guitar solo, over the blast, is piped in considerably louder. The song shifts to a slower, groove-laden speed that reminds me of early Machine Head. Vocals are delivered in a throaty and growly death metal sort of way and enunciated powerfully. More blasts erupt with a ferocious growl/scream and plenty of galloping action. The galloping action throughout the album, is that Bay Area thrash nod, and it works well. Some double pounding blasts then traverse into some Death territory, with Leprosy leanings for sure. This is a one helluva song, and the band should open their live sets with the intro going right into this track. Monstrous blast beats on this sucker.

“Behind the Knife”, at under three minutes, has a spoken word intro clip, before the drum roll takes us on some galloping madness. The drum sound is outrageous on this album. Some of that groove hits, and then right into a blistering, swirling, blast beat. This blast will level your neighborhood.

“Forgotten by Time” is a killer song with nods to Death and Matt Harvey, from Exhumed/Gruesome/Left to Die, delivers some killer guest vocals on the 1.33 section. His vocals complement the music quite well, with the music having a great Death sound. The song gets into a pit-heaving moment with Matt continuing with his vocals. The band was generous with his vocal spots.

“The Bloodletting” features a guest guitar spot from Phil Demmel, Machine Head/Kerry King/Vio-lence. The groove on this song is heavy AF, and what a great solo around the 3.13 mark. Terrific, and the song ends as it began, with the soft guitar opening.

The rest of the album is kick ass, with the “Consumed in Black” song really throttling you from side to side and choke slamming you through the Earth’s core. “Master Killer” (Merauder cover) ends the album, and the pace of the original is there, all the nuts and bolts of the original, but with the Plague Ritual tone. Cool cover.

Where Souls Go to Die is an excellent debut album. If you’re into any of the genres I previously mentioned, I think you will dig Plague Ritual. Excellent production, musicianship, and song structures. The songs are powerful, catchy, and at times pretty dang brutal. Get this now!

Houston’s Haserot put out a really nifty little EP Throne of Malice, four years ago. Now we are gifted with their debut full-length album Advent of Suffering and with an album cover that must be seen on shirts!! Cryptos Grimm – Drums, Maurice Eggenschwiler – Guitars (lead), Guitars (acoustic), Brandon Johnson – Guitars (rhythm), Justin McKittrick – Vocals, and Garrick Smith – Bass have put out a 10-song album in 39 minutes, the perfect length of time. With members hailing from Spectral Manifest, Sanctus Bellum, Doomstress, Scrollkeeper, and Helstar, if you were expecting anything less than ass-kicking, then go pound sand.

One of the most noticeable differences, four years later, is more of an emphasis on melodic death metal on this debut album. The title track starts with melodic guitar work, then shifts to a nice death metal speed, very 90’s sounding. Worthy of headbanging your pathetic head clean off your shoulders. Terrific, venomous vocals. After the deathly madness, a nice little guitar solo sweeps in with guitar harmonies all over the place. In some sections, there is a bit of a Skeletonwitch vibe, especially in the vocal department, with the deeper registers paired with some of the raspy black metal tones. At over five and a half minutes, this is the longest song on the album and a very good start to showcase their more melodic edge.

“Poverty of Thought” has a great opening guitar riff. The song escalates into a death/thrashing speed, with a cool guitar solo, over the speed. Cryptos keeps the speed steady on his drum kit, then the song slows down, with some very cool bass lines and a monstrous growl. The groovy, hoppy part at the 1.43 section will get dem pits moving in 0.0 seconds. Truly an excellent moment with more melodic guitar soloing. There are excellent vocal tones and growls on this particular song. Great ending growl as well. This has to be in their live set.

“Tears in Bethlehem” features a guest spot from none other than Marc Grewe, of Morgoth fame, who is still slinging it in a variety of bands, my favorite being Leper Colony. They give him some generous vocal time, starting around the 1.20 section. Marc’s sharp, enunciated tones bite right through and are well-placed. A little over a minute later, Marc is back for the attack. This song is a mid-paced cruncher with a huge melodic edge with the guitars and soloing. Some dual vocals happen later on and this is a real fun, heavy, melodic, and catchy tune.

“The Tenth Circle” has a sort of Bolt Thrower-ish vibe with the opening bludgeoning mid-paced heaviness. The song then slows with excellent vocal tones and a great leading riff. The guitar tone is excellent on this song, like the other songs, and pinch harmonics are added to the mix on this one. More of that ambient, atmospheric melodic nature happens about midway into the song.

“Curse of Haserot” closes things out on this great debut album. More mid-paced crunch. The guitars take on a melancholic tone as the song screams depression and despair. The guitar solos on this track are exceptional. With guest spots from James Murphy and Andy LaRocque. I could clearly pick out the different styles, and I love that Haserot just let the two of them loose on this track.

I have an observation. When band members are in a bunch of other bands, I wonder if some of their other band influences bleed into any of their albums? With the increase in melody on this album, I would say so. I would now classify Haserot as a Melodic Death Metal band, as opposed to straight-up death metal. Advent of Suffering has some excellent musicianship, and the band proves you don’t have to include blast beats in order to be death metal. There were a few moments, however, I was like, ohhh a blast beat would have worked nicely here.

It’s also refreshing to hear an organic-sounding album. The sound is much purer here, having more of the warmth of 90s-sounding death metal. While I am a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan, this debut album could bring back the Houston Oilers and make the Texans crawl back from the rock they never should have crawled out from. What a good debut album!!

Now we have the 11-song debut album – Madness of the Void. Mitchell Christian – Bass, Amir Abdullah – Drums, CJ Salinas on Guitars, and CJ Salazar on Vocals all know the elements of deathcore and what makes a kick-ass album.

“In Ashes and Creation” opens the album with a synth intro, which stays the course in the background as the beatdown music gets going, equipped with some blast beats. Around the 1.15 mark, the song gets softer, then the heaviness and blasting is interwoven. Lots of beatdown grooves, but at over three and a half minutes, this instrumental wears out its welcome. Way too long to open your debut album with such a long instrumental where there are many areas to toss in vocals. They kinda missed the mark there.

“Conqueror of Kings” is next and is volcanic in its eruption with symphonic elements and terrific vocals. The slam at 1.25 is crucial and quite punishing. The dual vocal elements help out, and the bludgeoning continues with monster slams, getting into a slower type of slams, like The Acacia Strain. We even get treated to a nifty guitar solo. The song picks up the pace with tremendous blast beats and higher, raspier vocals before a more bludgeoning groove. There is a killer growl around the three-minute mark, a shouted vocal style, then back to the gutturals, which lead into a sloth like slam. Slow. Deliberate. Crushing. Heavy. This is the song that needed to open the album. Monstrous.

The band shot a video for “Architect of Bone”, and the song opens up with intensity. Monster blasts and cool guitar harmonies. Vocals are utterly brilliant, and the guitar tone will destroy you. Around the 1.25 section, some ‘bree’ type of guttural vocals, with other varying tones, really keep things interesting. Terrific monstrous growls which extend for several seconds and truly add dimension. There are some Fallujah like ethereal guitar moments, then more stop-and-start blasts and plenty of galloping moments. The slams toward the end of the song deliver a knockout punch fairly quickly.

Yasmine Liverneaux, from Face Yourself, helps out in the vocal department with “Sands of Time”. The song has tempo shifts and a multitude of vocal tones. Towards the end of the song, Yasmine lets loose with some filthy rattlesnake-inspired, snake-like vocals as if she is coming through the microphone and spitting venom in our faces. This song has more killer slams and yet another kick-ass tune.

“Obsidian Empire” has great music, yet at over five minutes, another wasted effort by the band to toss in another long deathcore instrumental. Many areas of this track scream vocals and growls!!! At over eight minutes, “Madness of the Void” closes out this album. Tons of varying vocal tones, and the guitar harmonies are beautiful in this song. The bludgeoning heaviness and blasting at the one-minute mark will level cities from Texas to Istanbul. The rhythm section, at the 1.30 mark, is super powerful, and then we get treated to another guitar solo over the blast, and this moment resembles technical death metal at its finest. This song starts slowing down with a disgusting guttural slam at the five-minute mark. Quiet moments are welcomed in with various sound effects, symphonic in nature, until the music returns with a technical deathcore, polyrhythmic groove. It’s pretty complicated, and this instrumentation piece closes out the album.

If you’re into bands like Worm Shepherd, Mental Cruelty, Whitechapel, and Angelmaker, you will no doubt enjoy Godeater. While the symphonic elements are there, they never become focal points, and the band is quite impressive, musically speaking. Super talented. Their EP was banging, and this surpasses that. Their penchant for these long instrumentals, strewn across the album, is confusing to me. It’s a bit much – rein it in fellas. I’m cool with opening deathcore instrumentals to get the ball rolling, but only for like a minute and a half or so.

Outside of that, the production is crushing, and I love this album cover. Madness of the Void is an impressive debut album that, in some ways, “out-heavies” their deathcore competition; that is how heavy this album is. Great beatdown deathcore!

As with the debut, the band writes shorter songs, and it makes the music more impactful. With a thirty-minute runtime, the band jumps right into “Dhukha” (rough meaning is a type of Buddhist philosophy). I cannot remember the last time I heard an opening song with an isolated bass guitar moment. Regardless, it’s pretty darn cool; then the song gets into a NY stylized blast beat, then slows down, then speeds up. The pinch harmonics scream 1992, and if you liked Suffocation’s earlier efforts, you will most certainly enjoy this. As with the debut album, Nick can toss those gravity blasts around and alongside the crawling slams and guitar harmonies; this is an excellent opening song.

“Summers of Hate” is up next, and this does not have to be a hateful summer, as long as you have some great NY pizza. My fave is King Umberto in Elmont, LINY, in case you give a shit. The double pounding blast beats definitely have Mike Smith’s ears ringing over and over again. Plenty of tasty drum fills and madness towards the end of this brief two-minute scorcher.

The title track begins with a monster slam, and honestly, I would open with this song in a live environment. It fuckin hits hard AF, especially with the pinch harmonics, and the pit would be ruthless with bodies flying all over the place. The main slam riff repeats multiple times throughout the song and is excellent. The technical aspect of the bass plucking and harmonics adds an air of excellence. Cory lets loose with some killer growls on this track. He’s a monster….wait, that’s his last name. Cory-is this really your last name?? Like what is the experience in a professional setting if someone was to refer you, “Good morning, Mr. Monster”??

“Digital Locusts” closes the album and, at five minutes, is the longest song on the album. Starting with gravity blasts, this song takes no prisoners in its approach. Excellent throaty, guttural vocals and some time signature changes during the fast moments, which is controlled chaos. The double pounding blast, at the 1.25 section, will have you thinking Suffo’s Breeding the Spawn album, which there are plenty of nods towards that album, on this release. Killer growls, over the fast moments, and the band even tosses in some jazzy moments towards the end of the song.

The Irredeemable Age is a great album from Thætas. They have upped their songwriting, musicianship, and brutal technical prowess. The band cannot just be lumped in with other NY brutal slam death metal bands. Thætas is doing something different. Yes, the slams are there and yes, the NY style is ever present. But this band is weird, and I mean that in a good way. With their non-linear approach to this death metal style, to their oft-kilter time changes, at times, Thætas has a lot in common with Brooklyn, NY’s Pyrrhon – another sick and twisted band. Nice organic production, warm and inviting. Thætas should be pleased with this kick-ass record!

Not Your Kingdom is the band’s 10th full-length and first one in eight years, their last being For the Cause, in 2018. Joining Freddy is: Paul Delaney – bass, Mike Gurnari – guitars, and Mike Justian – drums.

The band has remained intact for quite a while, and Freddy sounds absolutely maddening on this album. 14 songs in 30 minutes, the band wastes no time, ripping right into “Tethered”. You can feel a NYHC pit starting immediately as this song opens with a killer groove. The band opted to have the album produced in Nashville, TN, and Andrew Baylis really helped to get the best Madball sound possible. Lee Rouse did a stunning mix/mastering job, as this ensures Madball sounds as relevant as they did when first starting out as a bunch of kids.

“Flammable” is next and is ferocious. Blistering speed opens the song, and then out of nowhere, a fuckin blast beat. At 59 seconds, this song swoops in and levels the playing field. Intense NYHC!

“Rebel Kids” is a nod to the band, former members, the NYHC scene, and the philosophy of growing up in NY, back then and how kids thought and felt. One of the catchiest songs the band has ever written, it’s only a matter of time before the entire crowd is singing along live to ‘Let me hear your voices say I’ve been led astray, been led astray’. The grooving and hoppy moments go along with the emotive nature of what the lyrical content is meant to convey. I love this song, and this will be an excellent connection between the band and the live audience.

“Don’t Misstep” was a song selected to be one of their singles, and the speedy opening hardcore attack eventually simmers down to allow that excellent groove to hit, then back into the hardcore galloping attack. This will be a great circle pit song. The song has nods to the band’s earliest material as well as Agnostic Front, no surprise there.

“Life’s a Mural” is a great song, with true NYHC lyrics talking about hypocritical people. If you’re gonna talk the talk, you’d better walk the walk and be true to your values and not be a chameleon. Always improving oneself and basically don’t talk outta your ass. Some excellent guitar moments with an excellent breakdown showcasing the strong rhythm section. The song gets into a rather nice gallop, then slows back down, and once again his track screams, play me live!!

“Chase a Dream” closes out this terrific NYHC album, with some phenomenal drumming as the galloping takes us on a speedy opening path. Awesome and aggressive vocals help move the song along. The song slows down, and we get a nice little isolated bass guitar that is rooted in classic 80’s NYHC, as well as on the west coast, D.R.I. hardcore bangers. The song speaks about staying true, following a good path, and not allowing naysayers to try and tear you down. Excellent album closer.

Before I finish up this review, I must mention the passing of legendary NYHC singer, Lou Koller, from NY’s Sick of It All. He recently passed away from cancer, after it returned last year. Fuck cancer! Lou was a purveyor and staple in the NYHC movement, and the band is taking the time to mourn and some time for themselves. RIP NYHC Brother!

Not Your Kingdom is a ferocious and fun hardcore album from Madball. The band is hellbent to come outta the starting gates swinging and slamming, and that is exactly what they do. Releasing one of their strongest and most intense albums with terrific lyrical content and meaning. You all need to run out and get this scorcher asap!!

Enough of my blathering. You want to know what this band has to offer, and I am here to deliver the news. I must mention the batshit crazy cover design. It’s sick and twisted, and not only does it need to be on a shirt, pronto, but it also goes perfectly with the music.

Seven songs in 21 minutes, and the band opens with the title track. There are some space-sounding atmospheric parts, which will remind you of certain intros from bands like Wormed, Wormhole, Abominable Putridity, on the true real song “Orgy in the Vomitorium”. The music comes in with some awesome bass-plucking guitars and progressive technical death metal qualities. Excellent deep guttural-style vocals as well as some higher, raspier tones. The drum rolls and double bass are excellent. Excellent riffing and there is a really nice slamming groove at the 2.29 section so you can start going fisticuffs. Intermittent blasting and a penchant for the technical, progressive, stop-on-a-dime moments make this a very awesome way to open your debut release.

“Violence Is Virtue” opens with killer blasting and frenzied bass plucking moments. The technical wizardry on display from the guitars shows these skillful bastids know how to write some creative riffs. Excellent vocals and the time changes are flip-flopping all over the place. The 1.09 slower section showcases some of the wild rhythmic and at times, polyrhythms the band tosses in. The lead-up to the two-minute mark is most excellent. Some bashing of the instruments to signal a Holy Shit moment with a growl and going right into the blast. Crafty and nifty, at the same time. The song slows down with powerful vocals, and the musicianship truly shines, alongside some guitar soloing. The solo is catchy.

“Death Cult Liturgy” closes out the ep, opening with a nice, isolated guitar riff. The mid-paced double pounding keeps up until the slower pace enters into the picture. Blasting takes over, and more of that mid-paced super swift double bass action rears its head to slaughter your body into the pit time and time again. This would be a great time to break out that circle pit. During this moment, I believe the band has dubbed it “The Kulczycki Shuffle”. The song slows, and some killer growls, and the music gets softer until it ends.

There you have it, folks. The Enmity Offensive has released a particularly impressive debut EP. Inducing Oblivion showcases skill and finesse in a display of technical brutality. You would expect this type of cohesiveness in a band that has had several releases under their belt, not on a debut EP. This is enough to have Don “Lord Stomache” Decker, rise from the dead. Impressive, brutal, highly skilled, and you must check this band out now!

8 songs where Shane does it all on this album. Who knew this UK specialist in Grindcore had this in him, even the vocals. 8 songs in 42 minutes, and if this album does not embed in your mind for years to come, then I am unsure what type of music will. With leanings towards 80’s industrial and new wave alternative, this is a special album. Think Ministry’s first two albums, The Cure, Depeche Mode, and Sisters of Mercy.

“Spasm Prayer” opens the album with industrial and ambient noises, and I am like, ‘please don’t be like their debut’. The drums come in with industrial noises, synths, bass, guitars, and Shane’s washed-out, shoe gazy stylized vocals. And it’s friggin’ terrific. If this album was released in like 1983, who knows where Shane would have ended up. So catchy, so emotive, and the song moves pretty swiftly. No grind blasts with his signature distorted bass guitar…no, but as an alternative industrialized, new wave song it’s pretty fast and dreamlike.

“The Dreaming Abyss” has fuzzy bass guitar and some distorted vocals, taking on a sinister tone, until Shane’s regular vocals, like the previous song, come on in. There are some atmospheric and melancholic moments on this song. Shane has some very catchy tones as his vocals soar and the instrumentation, some of which is programmed, accompany his vocals perfectly. There are some isolated vocal moments, and the song takes on some of the goth aspects that some new wave/industrial bands incorporated later in the 80’s/early 90’s.

The title track sounds like a nursery rhyme is being counted down with the opening musical arrangement. The song is on more of the softer and slower side with more distorted vocal elements, where Shane begins to sound like a computer, until his vocals are intertwined within. Atmospheric, melancholic, and I sense a cathartic unleashing from Mr. Embury, as you can tell he has put his heart and soul into this project.

“Illusion Guillotine” is a creatively named tune. Some programmed synths/keys start things off, and I feel like I am floating in outer space. Shane’s washed-out vocals, drenched in reverb, enter into the picture and tap into your heartstrings. It’s impossible to listen to this title track and not feel something, as well as a fresh take on the various genres I previously mentioned above. There are some ethereal female vocals in the background, adding to the emotion.

“The Gift of Shame Wrapped in Guilt” ends the album, at over seven minutes, starting with some piano elements and noises. Soft vocals sweep in and out of this dreamlike song, with the variety of noises and sounds throughout. I sense sadness, despair, and grief are all part of the setup Shane has crafted for this album closer. The musical elements gradually become louder and more epic, with Shane’s vocals getting pumped louder in the mix, before the album ends on the softer side. By the way, if you really liked the project, Host, a few of the Paradise Lost members put together a few years ago, you will love this album.

Bridge To Resolution is a fascinating album from one of the pioneers in Grindcore, Shane Embury. Please look at the references above to see the type of genre this is, because if you just like brutal music, this will not be to your liking. Shane is a creative force, and from his vocals to the variety of sounds that are programmed and organic in nature, this is a top album for me in 2026. Was not expecting something so moving and so terrific. The Apple Music full-motion album cover, when playing the album, is brilliant. What a forward-thinking album; truly excellent!!

Seeing that Sickbay had been garnering some underground attention Brian, was like, we are getting this free agent to bring on over to our roster. What a fucking score this is. Lineup-wise, we get Jim Sinon on guitars, John Devito on bass, AJ DeCeile is drumming on the first seven tracks while Chris Puletz drums on “Unholy Incantation”, and Alex Valdez is the new vocalist and crushes it.

I will say this: even with their super-strong Permanent Solution EP, in 2024, Time to Die is Sickbay’s strongest and best release to date. To categorize them as yet another brutal NY slam band, would be a bit of a disservice to the band. They inject something different to their brutality – Doom! The slams are a bit slower at times, than other slam bands, and Sickbay injects a creepy, crawly type of doom to their sound. It is most paramount on this release and damn, this album does slay, way to go Sickbay.

8 songs in half an hour, “Deathly Impulse”, sets things off. A doomy, yet heavy guitar riff gets piped in, then the slam hits at the 27-second marker, and it is ruthless. Alex has a killer set of growly vocals with varying tones. They go perfectly with the slam, and this opening slam may be the best opening slam riff I have heard in quite some time. The song picks up the pace, then right into that doomy, pounding slam. The way the slam is constructed has me thinking The Acacia Strain’s newer stuff. Doomy, sludgy, and pounding.

“Impending Doom” is up next, and the song title is perfecto. A monstrously heavy, slamtastic, doomy punch to the face, gut, and solar plexus. Simple, yet catchy riffing, to embed in your head for days on end. The speed and then groove speed get things going pretty quickly, then back to the doomy, crawly groove. This is so damn catchy, and the double bass, over the riff, is amazing. This song better be in their live set. The song gets into a slower downbeat groove that screams death/doom metal, actually, but done in a NY sort of way. Whatever the case may be, this is an amazing song and it all fits and gels.

You cannot be a NY death metal band and not have the word suffer as a song title or lyric. “Suffer” has some very cool parts with a variety of vocal tones shifting from raspy, almost black metalish screams, to gruff growls and twisted putrid vomitrocious, lower than whale shit type of gutturals. It’s terrific. The groove picks up the pace, once again with a strong drum section. Once the two-minute slam erupts, I am telling you, if played live, this slobberknocker of a section will knock people’s heads off from here all the way to the outer realms of space. Amazing growls and gross burps and belches as the crawling, stomping, doom slam hits some more. Suffocating in its heaviness, this song owns.

I really don’t wanna review anymore ‘cause I want you to head over to Ossuary Industries and get yourself this release and a shirt, but I’ll do one more song for ya. The last song, “Unholy Incantation”, has an amazingly heavy opening slam and a catchy riff. More of those gross, triple flusher toilet vocals, and I am loving the hell outta this track. Super slow. Super doomy. Yet it moves and grooves for you to shake that booty to. Once the metal ends, the song gets into a tribal type of jam. This goes on for a few minutes and is super catchy, as it mimics the earlier part of the song, just with some tribal injection. What a super fun way to end the album.

Yo Sickbay…pull up your bootstraps and get ready mofos. Get on tours and play live as much as possible all over N. America. Get your name out. Time to Die is a special slamming, brutal release. Injecting the doom elements and crafting slams that are not typical for this style, is original, forward thinking, and separates the band from a large amount of bands doing the brutal slam thing. What a fucking monster of an album, JFC!!

Vomepotro is a band that, if you told me they were from Indonesia, I would not have batted an eye. There last album Liturgy of Dissection, dropped in 2009; then the band broke up, only to reform last year with Cristiano Martinez returning on vocals and guitar to bring in David Ferreira on guitars/vocals, Rodolfo Menezes on bass/backing vox, and Kalle Lindfors on drums. What is even more intriguing is Cristiano was not even a band member when the band was created, which was in 1998. So technically, there is not one original member in this band.

Suffice it to say we get 8 songs and the last one, “Festering Degradation”, is a brutal death metal instrumental, which should have had vocals on it. Ending the album like they did, after being away for a while, makes little sense to me. Like toss some lyrics on there, give some growls, the song sounds naked.

Anyway, the album opens with “Fall into Decay”, which is terrifically brutal with TAF (triggered as fuck) double-bass drums and some excellent guitar work. The riffs are well thought out, with the music coming across as somewhat Suffocation, Deicide, and Dying Fetus inspired. Vocals are mid-range to super guttural and are well done. I do enjoy the mix in the bass guitar tone, and it is audible. The plethora of tempo shifts, with the blasts and mid-paced bludgeoning heaviness, is great. The band also tosses in several guitar solos that run the gamut of the tempo shifts. A most excellent opening song.

“Beaten to Death” is kind of what just happened to that old dude at Yellowstone National Park, getting tossed in the air by that angry Bison. The Bison did not want his picture taken, and he sure as shit showed gramps. The 1.15 section has a gravity blast aspect with the bass-plucking madness, and the Brain Drill influence is all over this song from the bass, gravity blasting, and super-swift guitar riffing.

“Abyss of Lunacy” has a most excellent stop-and-start signature time change at the beginning. The song then gets into full throttle blasting with a killer fucking growl over this section. The song briefly slows down, then shifts to the blasting again. The slower part screamed for it to go on for much longer, for a pit, but there is no chance for the pit to start. The technical aspect, on display, is pretty impressive and is definitely a high point in this band. That is their strength, a sick rhythm section.

“Insect Spawning” has an opening clip, setting up the lyrical inspiration. This opening is the best part of the album and my favorite song. It grooves, then gets into a galloping death metal attack. The brutal drum rolls take things to blasting territory before the tempo shifts to a mid-paced onslaught. More guitar solos and swirling blasting too.

Welcome back, Vomepotro. Fall into Decay is a damn fun album and an above-average reformation album. The band has a strong rhythm section and really good musicianship, and they may want to lean on some of the slower, groovier moments on the next album. You have to give riffs and tempos a little more breathing room, rather than out brutalizing your opponents. If you become a one-trick pony, the staying power of your albums will be lost on the audience. I am not saying the band is a one-trick pony, however, there are sections within that need the slower moments to carry on longer, because that creates brutality, actually. Overall, I am digging this album and the brutal factor.

If you’re into bands like Sadus, Warbringer, Cynic/latter Death, you will really dig Inscribed. When you’re thinking of the Sadus inspiration, refer to A Vision of Misery, when the band went into a more progressive/thrash phase. Lucas has a definite John Kevill (Warbringer) vibe to his vocal delivery, immediately heard on the album opener, “Inquisition for Hatred”. Frantic in its pace, the song does slow down, for some well-timed guitar soloing, and excellent bass guitar strumming from Evie. Evie posts a lot of reels of bass guitar play-throughs on some classic death and thrash metal songs – (still waiting for your reel of playing our “Languish in Despair” bass lines).

With an album cover that looks like it came out of 1985, especially with the awesome band logo, the band does not sound dated. Very cool album opener, which is bested by the next song, “Machinery of War”. Awesome bass guitar lines and a really ripping blast beat, equipped with isolated bass guitar moments and a rather intense galloping thrash metal attack. If you are also into newer death/thrash metal bands, like my buddy Vivek’s band, Desolus, you will want to hop on this album in 0.0 seconds. The song slows back down for some progressive moments, taking us to classic tech eras of Cynic/Death/ Pestilence. More guitar solos and the bass guitar is ever present, in the mix, moving that rhythm section along quite nicely.

“On the Stage of Death” starts with the progressive moments of Death. A ripping isolated guitar solo begins before the thrash metal attack. With an organic production to boot, it’s nice to hear drums, which sound real and do not sound like a typewriter. Lucas lets out some deeper vocal tones and has a varying display of vocal tones. He is most comfortable with the Warbringer style of thrash metal vocals. This track slows down to atmospherics and ambience, with an abundance of progressive qualities. During this instrumental section, you can’t help but wonder: where is album #2 going to take us? More excellent bass guitar moments, which have some Maiden/Rush qualities to it.

“Oracle of Chaos”, which was on the EP, is a bit better here, with the improved production and tightness of the instruments. The intensity, especially with the blast, is on full display. Galloping fist-banging mania – baby!! “Formed Through Control” ends the album, beginning with the sounds of ocean waves. Maybe the band recorded some Miami waves for this part. The galloping moments erupt, then slow down, with some very good deeper register vocals. A varying of their tempo shifts, coinciding with their aggression, is how you close out an album properly.

Inscribed is an exciting young and up-and-coming death/thrash metal band. Upon the Twisted Throne is a fun and thrashing debut album. If the band can continue on this course, play live as much as possible, maybe even tour, they could have a bright future. I am enjoying this album immensely!

9 songs in 45 minutes, “Alt/Space” gets things started with an atmospheric buildup, with voices in the background, and the intro works well until “Cryptic Site” starts. Beginning with a crushing groove, Mike’s spoken-word-type raspy vocals are accompanied well by his bludgeoning distorted bass. The excellent main guitar riff and bass hitting at the 2.30 mark will bring you back to Pure era Godflesh with the heavy, hoppy, thumping sounds. The thumping continues, and that catchy riff is most excellent.

“Swamp Flesh” is exactly how I am feeling today. It’s over 90 degrees, and I need to get into the pool. Vocals are piped in higher, excellent, doomy, growly, and menacing vocals. This song actually is pit-worthy with the pounding groove and catchy pinch harmonics. Vocals are enunciated terrifically, and lyrics are understandable. If you’re gonna spend time writing lyrics, you might as well make them audible so we all can test your genius level. Like a lumbering sloth, this song has heaviness all over it. When the main part hits and repeats, such as the 3.44 mark, you cannot help but headbang in unison to the beat. Crafty bastids!

“The Cell Inside” starts softly, and if you ain’t holding up your lighter like it’s 1985, then get the hell outta here. The music hits at the minute mark and is more of a somber, melancholic tone. Depressive, emotive, and you can feel the pain when words/phrases like ‘Worthless, Voices Crying, Never Forgive ‘ are spewed out by Mike. It adds more weight with the lyrics enunciated so well. There are some slow guitar harmonies around the 4.10 mark that have me feeling Iron Maiden. A short time later, the isolated bludgeoning bass guitar rumbles by itself until the music comes back and hits ever so heavily. This is one of the best moments Red Vinter has ever created.

The title track opens with that dirty ass, distorted bass guitar. Drums enter into the picture next. Guitars slowly build up, and the music morphs into a lumbering, crawling speed that is pure Winter worship. Toss in more of that Godflesh Pure sound, more during the depressive moments. The song is not drawn out to 10 frickin’ minutes and is around the five-minute mark, perfect length. Catchy vocal patterns to coincide with the guitar melodies, and the song picks up to a monstrous groove that hits at the 3.13 part. This plodding groove has a bludgeoning beat that calls for beatdowns. Luckily, this part again repeats towards the end. Terrific way to end the album, as well.

If Ghost in the Fog were a drink, it would go down smoooove, like a stick of butter. But due to it being so heavy, depressive, and abrasive, at times, it would be a sonofabitch coming outta you. Tear your insides right out! Ghost in the Fog is the best release from Red Vinter. Catchy, memorable, heavy, and well played. The band is coming into its own and is playing some live shows to boot. Maybe they can try to book MDF for next year. Get this album now!

Starting with what appears to be the sounds of the troublemakers adorning the cover, “Bathing in Entrails” gets going a minute into things. My buddy, Tim King (Oppressor/Soil), sounds as killer as ever, maybe even a little more powerful on this. I did mention on their last album, Origins of the Deformed, production issues, specifically the exceedingly high drum volume. The drums are still a bit too loud; however, improvements to the overall mix, with an increase in the guitar tone and volume, make for a better balance. The song is over before it’s started, pretty much just bent on beating you to death.

“Zombified Infants of Roswell” is more of a mid-paced cruncher, and the song slays. Some excellent guitar harmonies are happening, with Scott Roberts laying waste to some killer riffs. Marco Fimbres allows for some killer drum galloping throughout, and the song has quite an old-school flair with some well-timed drum fills. Kenxi’s bass is flip-flopping, and I catch some plucking madness going on. Tim’s vocals sound filthy, brutal, and, quite honestly, I think this is the most brutal he has ever sounded on any recording. We get a little guitar solo tossed in to boot. All in all, this is one of the best songs the band has ever written. This song must be in their live set, especially with that hopping groove towards the end.

“Beheading the Infertile Surrogate” starts so stupidly brutal you’d better lower that headset. Holy Smokes! Again, Tim, sounds like he is picking up a body and slamming it to the ground over and over and over again! Stunningly vicious, this song will rip your liver out. The overly guttural tones are actually catchy, and that can be difficult with brutal, guttural death metal.

The title track ends this brutal offering with a clever intro of sorts, as it tells us the story of what is going on. The guitar riffing comes in, with this slow opening number, and there is a lot of ambience to the track. The monstrous double bass drums hit ever so often, with Tim bellowing, like he is one of the mutated. Excellent guitar harmonies are also present on this song. This song is a really good closer as it ties the entire album together. I was kind of glad this song let me breathe a little more, since all the prior songs are intense.

Rise of the Mutated beats their last album by quite a bit. I still would like the drums scaled back some, as they were perfectly mixed on the monstrous debut – Prophecies of the Conjoined. However, the mix and production are thankfully better than the last album. Embryonic Autopsy has increased its writing skills to coincide with the increase in brutality. The band is currently overseas touring with Six Feet Under, and as brutal and bludgeoning goes, Embryonic Autopsy has brought it once again. Awesome brutality!

With a young and aggressive thrash band, I always want to make sure it’s not a one-hit wonder. Knowing Vivek’s love for all things metal and classic thrash, I was happy to hear there is no drop off in quality with their sophomore effort. After a brief, but foreboding instrumental, “The Portal”, the title track erupts, and the first thing coming to mind is classic Sepultura – think Beneath the Remains, as well as Sodom circa 1987-1992. Blistering speed and the 1.35 timestamp will start circle pits all damn day. The music has been tightened up a bit, with a greater emphasis on the production as well. The groove is pure 1988 and is most excellent until the fast blazing thrash returns with guitar solos. The vocals of Vivek and Jimmy, really add to the frenzied assault.

“Threading the Atom” is the longest song at still only 4.50. This song begins with a monster groove. Even has a little Municipal Waste to it. The speed erupts, and it really gets into Beneath the Remains territory, as well as moments of Sepultura’s Morbid Visions, with the crossover into death metal. This song has stop-and-start, very catchy moments, and the squealing Slayer-inspired guitar solos add to the character of the tune. This song is planted in the middle of the album and would go over well planted in the middle of their live set. One of the best songs Desolus has written.

“Visages of Death” shows the band is unafraid to show their melodic leanings, and then Vivek rips into a bass solo and right into the ripping thrash metal. While the band has tightened up their sound, I still like their “live” feeling to the record, and that has to do with the sheer energy the band brings to every song. This song is pretty darn ferocious, and the song slows down, eventually, towards the end with the melodic elements. The bass guitar is piped in a bit louder, which is important to point out, since the notes sound great. The song trails off, and it’s a very cool song ending.

Desolus then does an admirable job at covering Slayer’s “Show No Mercy”. A little more deathly with the raspiness of the vocals. Actually, imagine if Kreator covered this song during their Pleasure to Kill era, for you to get an idea of how this cover song sounds. All the elements of the classic song are intact, with varying vocal ranges to capture Araya’s crazy performance on that album.

“Nefarious Dominion” ends the album with a terrific Slayer-inspired opening guitar riff. A bit of a headbanging gallop takes us along for the ride. The speed is injected with a pounding and angry feel to it. This almost has a primitive quality to it in terms of the feel, and this is a great song to add into their live set.

As much as I enjoyed their debut, Desolus, has topped it with Dwellers of the Twilight Void. Better musicianship, songs, and production. This is what you want out of a young and hungry band. The band plays live shows and tours, and I foresee some bigger tours coming their way. They did just play MDF, and as the band continues along, they are injecting that old school venom back into thrash metal. Something that has been missing for a bit. Great album fellas!

With a very similar color palette, on the cover, like their last release, these newer cover designs, I feel, are a good look for the band. Shows some maturity, and these three songs, at least a few of them, will be in their upcoming tour setlist, with Hatebreed, for sure. Brad Fincher – drums, Ruben Rosas – vocals, Dave Spencer – bass all welcome to the fold, Marvin Ruiz, on guitars. Marvin is no lightweight when it comes to guitar work, as he is the guitarist for another brutal Texas death metal band – Stabbing! Marvin has now been with Devourment for a few short years and has the Devourment, slamtastic guitar sound down!

The title track opens with a film clip, which I think is the movie Evil Dead. Once the music hits, Brad gets into a monster blast beat, and Ruben’s vocals sound sooo vomitrocious. I love the filth. Clogged sewer pipe stylized brutality. There is an early slam, then right into a monster blast beat, equipped with 90’s era brutal pinch harmonics. I really enjoy Marvin putting in those harmonics, as it ties together some of the earlier material of Devourment. The mid-paced moments with the double bass will collapse chest cavities all over.. Once the slower slam hits at the 2.48 mark, this will level pits, on their tour. This is a most excellent song, and those sharp harmonics, towards the end of the song, will eviscerate your flesh, right off your skeleton.

“Mortiferous Dependency” has monstrous blasts and then creeping slams, and the moment at the 30-second slam will level your neighborhood. I know. I saw your neighborhood and it looks like shit after this EP was blasted. The slam gets even slower and is just monstrous. The mid-paced moments are so bludgeoning that it may cause you to start punching holes in things. I wrecked a few houses while listening to this EP. One of the finest songs Devourment has written.

“Advanced Stage Decomposition” is crucial in the beginning, with vocals getting zoomed right in. This monstrous opening slam could cause a ruckus at the local five and dime, so keep your stereo at an acceptable volume. The slam at the 1.10 section is the Holy Shit moment. You know, with the quick buildup, it is about to hit. And son…does it ever hit. It’s so heavy it may cause the brown note in you. Brad tosses in a nice blast with a few tasty drum fills, as well. The 2.20 slam is yet another crushing wave of brutality!!

Geez! Pious Impiety is one helluva brutal slam release from Devourment. The three songs are so strong that they should rotate them all in and out of their sets on their upcoming shows. These songs are tight, played with precision, are brutal, and the slams hit and keep on hitting. There is no let up on this release. You have no time to catch your breath and that is what Devourment wanted to do. Especially with all these younger whipper snapper slam bands putting out release after release after release. But the masters have returned to basically say, F You all, we are here and we will continue to slay nonstop. Literally, a breathtaking display of how brutal slam should be written and produced!

“Invocation of the Dreamer” opens the album and was the first single released. The song gets right into a nice thrash gallop with amazing vocals and guitar solos. The guitar harmonies and riffs from Ben and Phil are as exceptional as ever. We even have some dual-layering of vocals, and Zach still punishes the drums as if his life depended on it. After the thrashing, the tune settles into the doomier elements with some mystical moments too. This song goes perfectly with the somber album cover. A knight who has seemingly acquired riches, however, is melancholic due to probably how such riches were obtained. The song is helped out with a monster production to boot.

“Corpsebloom Garden” is also an aggressive number, with some polyrhythmic time changes and a doom-laden atmosphere with terrific soaring vocals early on. Very catchy, and the pitch is pretty good. I mean, the vocals do have reverb and EQ on them, but they do not go out of key. That is tough with these types of singers. I hear a lot of singers who are good, but not in key. The dual vocals of Ben and Phil continue to make Khemmis stand out from the pack in this genre of metal. Around the 2.10 mark, the ever-present gruff death metal vocals come in, which have been present across their releases, and add the extra oomph. Around the 3.25 mark, there are some guitar melodies taking us back to Helloween’s Keeper of the Seven Keys albums. Most excellent, and the guitar solos continue to get more creative on each album.

“Gilded Chambers” kicks things into thrashtastic fashion. Excellent opening drums and then right into the thrash. The song slows down for those soaring and epic vocals to resonate with the listener. Excellent vocal harmonies and intricate and melodic guitar work move the song along, as the doom metal takes over. The chorus and vocal tones will stay in your head, as well as the death metal vocals, midway through the song. They capture the emotion of the song, and after that moment, a most excellent guitar solo takes hold. Slow atmospherics permeate through the dense fog with acoustic moments and soft drum patterns. This section carries an Egyptian tone until the metal returns and the song ends soon thereafter.

“Benediction Tones” ends the album in an amazing, doom-like fashion. Heavy, brooding, emotive – the song takes no prisoners if you are listening to this on a depressing day. The vocal tones deliver huge on this track and are even more bombastic in the delivery. There are some spoken-type vocal parts in the middle of the song, all between the harmonizing. The song gets slower and quieter until trailing off, ending the album.

This self-titled Khemmis album is a monstrous metal album. They carry the torch of metal loud and proud. The production is top and the music is once again brilliantly delivered. They are leaving other bands in the dust, who are usually lumped into this genre. First is Visigoth. A most excellent band, but they have not released anything in seven years. Then, Eternal Champion with their Friend of War recent EP– quite honestly, that is a mess of sorts of an EP running over thirty minutes. One of the songs is an eighteen-minute-long ambient instrumental, and the title track is over thirteen minutes, which honestly goes nowhere – stinks cause their album owns.

Regardless of those bands, Khemmis are at the top of the pack and are one of the leaders of this style of metal. I would love for a bigger band to take them out on tour. Khemmis needs to be seen and heard on a bigger stage. What a great album and band.

The band suffered a loss two years ago when their bassist Erik Barrett passed away (RIP, brother). The band was able to soldier on, and Sean Martin is now on bass. Pete Morcey – vox, Rich Rosa – drums, and Jeremy Braddock/ Rick Brayall guitars round out the band as they’ve done for years. My boy Rick, used to be the guitarist for Tyrant Trooper out of Connecticut, btw. And we played some shows back in the 90’s when I was fronting Internal Bleeding. If you never checked out TT, you must do so pronto!

100 Demons is a downbeat hardcore band from CT and while they have gotten better on each of their albums, I am unsure if the world will be ready for this new monster. Embrace the Black Light is 12 songs in 37 minutes and is so fucking bludgeoning, the band may get locked up for releasing this album. It should be a crime due to how monstrous this actually is and the fact sinkhole pits will be forming from here to the Pacific Rim with this.

“The Nightmare” starts with some church bells in the background until the music hits. And the production is definitely the best the band has ever had on their albums. The mid-paced, ruthless groove hits, then we are hit with a blast beat and some galloping hardcore thrash moments. Super aggressive. The downbeat hardcore hits, and boy, does it ever hit. Hard AF! Pete sounds even better all these decades later. He sounds like he’s jumping through the mic to bodyslam you again and again and again. This is how you open up a comeback album, folks! “Made For Nothing” is next up and has a fast hardcore galloping beat that slows down with the song title being yelled at us, and the groove is just a monster. Total beatdown music.

“Through Seven Eternities” has some great opening drums, and you can tell the ‘Holy Shit’ moment is about to hit. Boom, right into a monster groove. The song gallops, then gets faster, taking us back to a hardcore beatdown groove. You will be swinging all damn day. You will want to create a whirlwind circle pit that creates tornado-like winds. The song gallops some more, and the slam hitting at the 2.20 section is criminal at best. No one will be left standing during this beatdown moment. It is beyond lethal.
“Nail It Shut” takes me back to those NYHC days with the ripping fast moment opening things up. Excellent riffs and heavy. Catchy bendy riffs with perfect tempos. At under two minutes, this song is not here to stay long; it makes a pounding impression.

“Spiritual Obliteration” ends the album with a slow and heavy buildup, almost as if the first song started with the music. Then the vicious hardcore-infused thrash speed takes over, then right into a mid-paced groove, which gets slower, really beatdown slow. The isolated riff at the 3.05 moment signifies the slam. And what a slam it is. Terrifically heavy and violent, this is how the music ends. A little atmospheric outro takes us to the end, and before you know it, you are playing the album again.

Embrace The Black Light puts the hardcore scene on notice. Creating an outstanding heavy AF album. This is the most aggressive and heavy album 100 Demons has released, and their other albums were killer. I am unsure if the band tours. They should. I would love to see a tour with them opening the tour and Emmure and Biohazard on the tour. I think that would be a monstrous tour which would bring some of the deathcore into the house with Emmure and I would call the Tour: The Sinkhole Tour.

I am being dumb, but at the end of the day, Embrace The Black Light has the best grooves of any 2026 release. The full motion cover on Apple Music is super neat with the swirling smoke and suns moving around. The production is insane and musicianship is stellar. This is how violent grooves and slams should be written. Outstanding!

Mastering the Disease is the band’s fourth album, and Stephen Reichelt once again joins in on bass guitar. We also get guest vocals from James Lee (Face of Oblivion/Pathology) on the song “Blood Prints” and Danny Lawson (Usurper) for “Pupils of Insularity”. The band was looking for a drummer who could capture Paul’s latest and greatest vision, and for this album, enter none other than Marco Pitruzzella (Six Feet Under, Anomalous, Sleep Terror, ex-Vile, ex-The Faceless, ex-Brain Drill). Marco had a good ‘ole rock n rolling fun time recording the newest Six Feet Under. Now was he able to let loose like his gravity blasting bad ass self-did with Brain Drill? No. Did Paul unleash the beast that is Marco, on this latest album? You bet your ass he did!

“Swelling Revulsion” starts things off with a little feedback, then with some maniacal start and stop drumming and Paul screaming his head off. All nice and fun until the 34-second moment. Gravity blasts, gravity blasts, gravity blasts. I will go on record as saying these are the fastest gravities I have ever heard. Faster than Brain Drill. Faster than Origin and faster than Rings of Saturn. Out of control. I was just mentioning to Paul recently that gravity blasts have gone away, and I was happy to hear them return. I just was not prepared for this onslaught. Towards the end of the song, it’s nice to hear some bass guitar strumming, which is heard throughout the release.

The title track is next. Beginning soft and quiet until the maniacal drumming returns. Fast, Faster, Fastest, than onto inhuman capabilities. More of the isolated drumming around the 1.15 mark, where it’s a fast double pounding method, is mixed in perfectly as the guitars take a back seat. Ferocious. The song slows down, and bass guitar plucking is ever-present, as the guitars take on a dissonance, not unlike that of Ulcerate. Paul has played around with dissonance before, with elements containing some later era Brutal Truth with discordant riffage and noises. The slow moments take on an almost drone-like, doomy sound. The speed returns with some weird-ass guitar soloing with terrific alternating vocals. The gravity blasting returns, and even I get tired from all the air drumming I am doing during the speedy parts.

“The Gnashing of False Teeth” has a damn good bass guitar intro and this moment resembles Godflesh. Yeah, Paul, I picked that out fast. Paul is a huge Godlfesh fan, like me. Think of Godflesh doing their doomy, depressive, discordant moments. That is what we have going on here. This is a good breather and you can feel Marco is like, Paul, come on bruh, let me loose again. The doomy drone effect erupts into a gravity blast around the 2.25 section and I swear they are even faster than the previous gravities and they go on for quite some time. Some ethereal, behind-the-scenes types of screaming than growls coming in. The abrupt speed of so slow to ungodly lightning speed, is so much fun!

“Depersonalized Realization” gets into some double pounding speed early on and varying degrees of vocalizations. The slow doomy dissonance is ever present and there are a lot of nods to Carbonized on this album. Just weird spastic blasting, weird noises, non-linear chords being strummed. This song is another example of the weirdness that is inside Gillis’ musical brain. The album, as a whole, is akin to watching the weird ass movie and one of my faves, Being John Malkovitch.

Mastering the Disease is an inhumanely creative and experimental journey into grind, doom, industrial, death metal and technical death metal. Morgue Supplier is not an easy band to just headbang to. It’s like thinking man’s metal. Paul pushes the boundaries and definitely getting Marco has been a huge advantage in this album. There are a few production, mastering issues. Songs will end with several seconds of silence before a song begins or a song will take several seconds to begin, when it’s just silence.

The production is good, however, there is no real bottom end, therefore this is very trebly sounding. The album cover is most excellent and goes wonderfully with this over-the-top sounding album. Because I listen to a lot of weird shit I really dig this album. I commend Paul for pushing the boundaries of extreme metal and also experimenting even more on his craft. This album will force you to consider, what is extreme? Utterly monstrous!!

Eight songs in 42 minutes. “Gorge of the Dead” was the first single released for the album and opens the album, too. Bludgeoning riffage and Desecresy have their own guitar sound. Of course, it is rooted in Finnish lore with traces of Bolt Thrower, which is something many Finnish bands incorporate. The interesting guitar harmonies are what set Desecresy apart from other countrymen. Around the 2.28 marker, the song picks up the pace. 90’s era speed, some isolated bass guitar is thrown in as well. The song slows and is pounding heaviness at its finest. Tommi’s rough growls are all over this, too.

“By the Slowing Vortex of Time” has an ambient, yet short intro. Start and stop speeds, and Tommi having his growls all over this one. If you are unfamiliar with his vocal style, think Chris Barnes during Butchered at Birth, as well as Will, from Mortician. Deep bellows! Some slower moments ignite the depressive and dense fog that is Desecresy. Luminated around a shroud of atmosphere and creepiness, this song is most excellent. The guitar tone is also fleshed out a bit better on this recording. Some organic and powerful double bass erupts around us, too. Yet another winner of a song.

“Rotting Ghouls” opens with a really nice growl, and the song mellows a bit with the guitar harmonies and drums. The bass guitar comes in every so often, with monstrous distortion, too. It’s heavy, maybe the heaviest distortion Tommi has used in a while. It also does not sound like a wall of mud, thankfully. There are some excellent guitar riffing moments and pounding and slow depressive, heaving heaviness. He uses multiple guitar tracks as well, which creates a full sound. Hearing the harmonies over some of the riffing is pure signature Desecresy. Faster moments develop, but this song is mainly rooted in dark, creeping, crawling terror.

“Vanishing Existence”, at close to seven minutes, closes out the album. Synth-laden intro is piped in quite loudly, so be prepared. This melts right into the slow pounding and heavy music of just drums and bass guitar. The guitars and vocals eventually are incorporated. Double pounding speed and excellent isolated guitar riffing create quite the cavernous tone on this song, along with the deep vocals. Excellent harmonies and some brief guitar soloing as well. More excellent growls and pounding beats! The song ends as it began with the synths.

The Secret of Death is a top album from Desecresy. Memorable, heavy, depressive, and great organic recording. Captures the heaviness quite well. One thing you may not realize is throughout all the band’s albums Tommi has drawn all the album covers. He is precise with his usage of color. Each album boasts a theme and a main color. This one is a deep blue. It would not be a Desecresy album without skulls so he drew a few of them in for ya. The Secret of Death is one killer death metal album!

The band has been a tear of touring multiple times a year in North America and overseas. The band proudly wears the Bolt Thrower influence on their sleeves, and now, with album number three, No Place of Warmth, the band wears that influence from head to toe. The band has opted for an even more bombastic and fuller sound, and this creates an avalanche of heaviness. 11 songs in 35 minutes, and the songs pack a wallop.

Opening with the title track, the band opts to have a guest vocalist – Gerard Way, from My Chemical Romance. An interesting choice. Beginning with an atmospheric and epic buildup, you immediately feel those drums in your chest. The Bolt Thrower vibe takes us to the Warmaster sound. Punishing double bass and tank-driven heaviness, this folks is the closest you will ever get to a new Bolt Thrower record. This mid-paced song is vicious, as well as those guitar solos, calling to mind 1991. Chad Green’s gruff style harnesses the power of Karl from BT, and if you close your eyes you might think Karl is singing. Why Frozen Soul has not had him guest on their albums is beyond me. Gerard comes in towards the end of the song and his style actually flows pretty well.

The title track is a good opener, but it’s bested by the best song the band has ever written, the next song. “Invoke War”. This is the perfect song to do my Anatomy of a Song on. Robb Flynn from Machine Head/ex Vio-Lence fame guests on this song and I will just mention his part fits like a glove and he sounds amazing and pissed off. So this tune starts with the song title being belted out by Chad. The drum buildup, with the vocals, and song getting heavier, gets right into the Holy Shit moment when after Chad’s growl, he is briefly isolated, as he once again growls ‘I Invoke War’, at the 36 second mark. The bludgeoning heaviness erupting sends frozen chills down my soul every time I hear this. He sings the part a few more times, but I am telling you, this mid-paced rumbling, is going to cause sinkhole pits nationwide. Maybe it will lower the gas process, perhaps? The song gallops a bit and then the isolated moment and drums create the perfect part for Flynn’s vox then the duet of ‘I Invoke War’ is belted out. Monstrously heavy and kick ass. I am telling the band-you may want to put this song in the middle of the live set. Not in the beginning – it will wear out the crowd. This song demolishes and Samantha’s bass guitar crushes during these moments.

Devin Swank from Sanguisugabogg has a ‘Bogg like song to lend his guest spot to, with “Dreadnought”. I have nicknamed this song FrozenBogg. It has the caveman-like knuckle-dragging heft of Sanguisugabogg, and Swank’s vocals are perfect, as the ever-present bass guitar seems to be even heavier on this song. This is yet another killer song.

The one thing I will mention is that the guest vocal spots are within the first four songs. I think the band should have placed one towards the end of the album, because the album is so heavily front-loaded with these song placements. Just my wooden nickels’ advice.

“Ethereal Dreams” brings in some speed. Galloping heaviness and old school at the same time. There are some nods to the Mercenary era Bolt Thrower sound at the end of this song, and once again, the song structure is pretty strong.

“Killin’ Time (Until It’s Time to Kill)” ends the album and kinda rocks along in a hoppy fashion. Heavy, but it’s a fun, happy tune, IMO, until the crushing heaviness at the 40-second marker. Devastating. There’s even some isolated bass guitar moments, which are excellent. By the way, do not snooze on “Deathweaver”. A most excellent song that enters the doom/death genre.

Michael Munday and Chris Bonner upped their game with their guitar sound and riffing. Song after song has riff after riff and are catchier than the next. The pounding drums of Matt Dennard need to be mentioned, as his steady play and crushing double bass help elevate this album

No Place of Warmth sounds terrific, has amazing songs, and has that dense tank-like heaviness that will go over even better live. How they top this album is beyond me, but Frozen Soul, continues to crush and only a matter of time before we see the band headlining full fledged tours.

Guitarists Terrell Grannum, Rick Habeeb, and vocalist Will Smith, all welcome in new members, Hudson Barth on drums and TJ Coon on bass. Now, while I could make out some of the Monet inspired album art from the debut album, don’t even begin to ask me what on earth is happening on this album cover. At first I thought it was spilt milk. The album cover kinda goes along with the music. Regardless of the strange cover, we have nine songs in 32 minutes. The band writes short and concise death metal without wasting time.

“Concrete Basin Bath” start things in a monstrous fashion – right out of the starting gates a brutal fast moment with Will’s putrid vocals all over the place. This opening is quite powerful, and the slow down gets into that weird Reeking Aura element, which showcases how the band separates itself from the pact. This fast part has a huge Incantation vibe. The guitar harmonies and riffing are intricate and original. The stomp at the two minute part showcases the bass guitar sound and weird bending chords the band uses to bend our heads in two. This is one helluva way to open an album.

“A Forlorn and Frozen Vapor” is up next and no, no, no it’s not named after a fart I just ripped out. Double pounding speed, like the album opener, is fast, without getting into blast beat territory. The weird, ambient sounds, slows things down and I feel like I am floating in this weird mess of an album cover. Strange guitar riffs and the oft-kilter rhythm, during the mid-paced part, is extraordinary. The songs picks up the pace to an old school 90’s speed, great galloping moment. The time changes, during this song, are mind-bending and brutal.

“Gorged Beyond Grudges” has a hellaciously heavy opening sequence. The new drummer, is bombastic and the double bass is chest collapsing. The guitar melodies are excellent. Then the brutal tank-driven, mid-paced heaviness takes over. It is meant to crunch your bones into oblivion. Damn, this is heavy. Guitar solos whisping us away into the netherworld are in the distance. The song picks up the pace again, then back into the tank-driven groove. This moment will create pit havoc and busted faces. The bass guitar is ever present and adds a layer of complexity. The soft atmospheric moment erupts and I feel like I am in some smoke-laden jazz lounge. The metal gets back into business, then the faster moments erupt.

The band has some similarities to Will’s former band, Artificial Brain. After Will left that band, the band has had some difficulty recovering. Getting in a lot of new faces, but still no new album. Regardless, the similar moments are in the twisted, bending guitars, non-linear approach to death metal and incorporating atmosphere. Both bands are still different and also some of the best in all of death metal.

“What Worms Only Witness” has a creepy opening guitar riff. Sounds like it should be in a horror movie. The beat down riff, afterwards, will make you destroy your neighbors fence. A gallop engages the listener and the guitar riff is so original. The mid-section, with all the bellows and belches from Will, are just music to my ears, phenomenal. The lead guitar riff is enticing and catchy. The title track ends the album and is only 2.42 in length. It starts with a gallop, then gets into a polyrhythm beat down with some technical prowess. Intricate guitar riffing, then a nice sludgy isolated guitar riff, signifying the mid-paced beat down moment. Super heavy and wicked in its approach. The band fits a lot into such a short song.

On the Promise of the Moon benefits from a great production and strong musicianship. It is getting exceedingly tough to find good original death metal bands, yet, Reeking Aura is one of those bands. They continue to improve on each release and this album is fascinating in the song structures, brutality, harmonies and ambient atmosphere. There are numerous memorable elements to this album and suffice it to say, the death metal scene is put on notice. Reeking Aura is easily one of the best and most original death metal bands in the last five years. Crushing!!