At the end of my review of The Star, I rhetorically asked if the band could return to the more blistering, scathing sound of the first two albums. Sure, Arkivet and The Star were amazing, but the more despondent and restrained hues just left me wanting more.

So I open the promotional email. And…. (sad trombone noise)… this is a 2-song, concept-based, 16-minute EP, not a new album.  And they didn’t read my review of The Star, as this continues the sound of the last 2 albums.

But, of course, it’s still brilliant, as both the songs on Å (‘stream’) deliver what you have come to expect from Wormwood: elegant, exquisite, but regally despondent melodic black metal.

The 9-minute “Yra/Extas” initially had me pumped as it comes out of the gate with a searing blast beat for a few bars. But over the next 9 minutes, it takes you on an emotional journey with riffs, emotional moments, atmospherics, and knee-wilting melodies (I mean, the last 3 minutes have a riff and solos that are just unfair).

The haunting child choirs from The Star kick off “Purposelessness Geometry”, a more restrained and mid-paced track that fully sounds like the last 2 albums. But it’s still damn good stuff, with some leads and riffs that just hit that despondent yet gracefully searing sweet spot, especially after the bluesy mid-song break where the choirs and moody riffs deliver the goods in all their somber glory.

I’ll try again, though; even though this is fantastic, can we get a return to the debut’s sound on the next full-length, please?

Straight away, I can tell I’m going to be blown away; the opening track, “Anqa,” bursts from the speakers like a rhinoceros on Crack. It’s got it all figured out with a sort of Fear Factory-ish vocal delivery, and the music itself is reminiscent of Fear Factory’s best album, Demanufacture. The clean vocals battle for dominance against the growling, and it all coalesces in a powerhouse of an opening song.

“Hex Of The Frenzied Decay” brings in the Blackened aspect, and holy fucking shit, this is mesmerizing. Effortlessly brutal, but within the brutality there’s a sense of beauty that cannot be ignored. You’ll see what I mean when you listen to it. It’s brooding, yet blistering at the same time, making for a brilliantly delivered wall of death, think, like, Onward to Golgotha or something in that vein, and you’ll be in the right neighborhood.

According to the presser, the band leans heavily into their Persian and Arabic backgrounds, creating some ultra-brutal World Music that has to be heard to be believed. This is a whole other level of Folk Metal insanity, trust me, you need to hear this album.

“The Soaring Enigmatic” is a massive one. The mid-paced bits are interspersed with moments of unhinged brutality and raw emotions. Zvindiyar have moments where they blast and thrash their way through the boundaries of Hell (there are a few scattered riffs and tonal shifts that will remind you of Slayer. Spoiler alert: they’re there, but I’m not going to point them out.)

“Fell” is the slammer here. Knuckle-dragging riffs interspersed with moments of insane violence and one breakdown after another, it’s like Suffocation and Internal Bleeding showed up to lend some neck-snapping destruction and then split directly after.

“الهمس الأول” is an instrumental with some soft, spoken words in the background. It sets up the big ending, which comes in the form of “Shadhavar”. This six-minute epic is worth the wait, blasting out of the gate; it weaves through tempo changes with ease, and it’s a punishingly beautiful song. The perfect way to close out Six Rites, and I love it all. This is too fucking good to pass on.

Zvindiyar has hit it out of the park with Six Rites. This is a complex album, melding technical brutality with subtle ambience that comes creeping in when you least expect it. I hope they have nothing but total success in the future. If you like Fear Factory, Suffocation, and Internal Bleeding, but with some Blackened influence to boot, then you know what you need to do. Go get this album now!

“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.

Anyhoo, hailing from Tasmania, The Absolution Sequence is a technical death metal band with some deathcore/djent leanings. Apparently, they started as a ‘groove/death metal’ band for a plethora of singles and demos since 2014, but on this debut album have developed a little more.

And the development into a more technical band is a positive one as all the players (some being around since the band’s inception in 2013, and some joining in 2020/2021) are skilled musicians, notably the two guitarists Luke Tucker and Steven Mason who are also in prog metal band Scoparia (along with bassist Alistair Boone, who isn’t quite fret less and twangy, but it shows here and there), and this injection of prog metal talent that has lead to the band being far more technical and intricate.

While not quite in that mathcore realm, some tracks like “The Sordid Miasma”, “Promethean Pilferage,” and “Diary of the Emaciated” certainly dip their toes in with choppy stuttering, chaotic rhythms.

But the large amount of solos, noodly twisty riffs, short atmospheric bridges, and light programming on tracks like “Diary of the Emaciated”, “The Nightmare Sigil,” and “Idols of Confraternity” keep things a bit more grounded in prog/tech realms.

That said, the vocals of Shawn Pybus and stammering, lurching songs like “Ghost Mantra” or “Grinding the Sphere” keep this partially in deathcore/death metal realms, as does the razor-sharp production. Think a sort of Psycroptic meets Periphery and a modern deathcore (i/.e. label mates and fellow Aussies Complexant or say bands like The Zenith Passage),

But when it’s all said and done, I’m not clamoring to re-listen to Dread Cycle. While the musicianship is top-notch, there’s no riff or song that I keep coming back to, but certainly many of you it there should and will enjoy and appreciate this much more.

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!

Now, certainly, techno and dubstep beats/programming in metal, specifically deathcore, have been used plenty over the years ( The Browning, Beyond All Recognition), but Disfiguring the Goddess, I feel, is one of the first (I’d say The Berzerker, but while they used techno drums they had little dance/programming beats, and yes I know about Fear Factory‘s and Avulsed’s cyber efforts), to really lean into the dubstep influence, despite starting as a standard deathcore/slam band.

But of late, he and his more recent songs have been all over social media, with some even going a bit viral (namely the 2025 EP Galapagos). Especially with the popularity of bands like PeelingFlesh, Infectious Jelking, and Filth, where programming and rap are now commonplace.

So I went back and checked out post-Katerpiller albums like Softly With You, Blood Era and the Brutal Machine – and it’s all pretty consistent; massive, groovy slam/deathcore with oodles of samples, beats and programming. And that’s what Bloom offers, though it appears singing to Seek and Strike has given him a bigger production budget after being pretty independent for his career.

Most of you will hate this. But if you like the aforementioned PeelingFlesh, you will eat this up, as while not using rap, there are tons of dubstep beats and programming/samples amid the generally mid-paced, massive, loping slams. And those bite-sized slams (16 songs in 50 minutes) are pretty satisfying and head-bob-inducing; I imagine the likes of “Samba of the Faceless”,  “Echoes Fade, I remain”, “Deathcore Song”, “Mask off (feat. J-Figure)”, the lumbering “Goddess Box (feat. Bodybox)”, “Low Slam Low”, and “Black Widow Spider” would be pretty fun in a live environment.

That said, there are a few more ‘out there’ tracks like “AWOL”, “Sweet Dreams ” and “Dapper” (both feat. Four Stroke Baron)”, “Permission to be Claimed”, “Kiss the Dice” and reggae-laced “Pleasure Island” with either a lot more…. weirder? programming and some other vocal styles used than the brutal slam growl/burp.

Admittedly, 50 minutes is a bit long for this. Around “Pleasure Island”, the schtick wears off a bit, and I’ve heard the same riff a few times now (but I could see he t “Penance” being a live fixture). But like the albums before, this will be a random guilty pleasure of mine when I want something a little different if I want to shake my booty for a bit. (Ewwww, sorry for that visual).

Pre-orders now open for limited leather box sets, gatefold vinyl editions, CDs, cassettes and merch

Luleå, Sweden & Athens, Greece; 4 September 2026: Swedish death metal legends Gates of Ishtar have unveiled further information about their long-awaited studio comeback. “Murder the Light” will be the band’s fourth studio album and their first in 29 years. It will be released on 21 January 2027 via The Circle Music, with pre-orders open now.

“After nearly three decades, Gates of Ishtar return,” the band stated regarding the upcoming release. “This January we will release our first album since 1998. Not a look back, but a continuation built on the same foundation and spirit that defined us then and still drives us now. The new material stays true to the sound and identity that shaped our earlier work. While reflecting the years that have passed and the experiences gained along the way, now nearly thirty years later, the fire still burns even brighter and more intensely than ever. More details soon…”

The Circle Music added: “Long before melodic death metal became a global phenomenon, Gates of Ishtar helped define the Swedish sound with their masterful balance of razor-edged riffs, melancholic melodies, and timeless songwriting. Their influence can still be heard throughout the genre, even if history has never granted them the recognition they so richly deserve. “Murder the Light” does not seek to recreate the past. It expands upon it with confidence, maturity, and the same creative fire that made the band’s early recordings so enduring. Every composition reflects musicians who have remained true to their identity while allowing nearly three decades of life and experience to shape their art. This is the return of a band with something meaningful to say.”

Founded in Luleå, Sweden, Gates of Ishtar created a strong cult fan base through iconic albums such as “A Bloodred Path” and “At Dusk and Forever”. The band came back into action towards the end of 2023 for a special live gig. They returned to their old creative groove, performing at festivals, which in turn resulted in the album “Murder the Light”. The recording process started at the Humbucker Studios in Hagsätra, Sweden, in May 2026, where the band recorded the drum and bass parts. Guitars and vocal parts were recorded in the next two months, June and July, at Fallen Studios. The producer, Robert Pehrson, mixed and mastered the album at Humbucker Studios in August 2026.

The album will be available in the following physical formats:

Digi CD
Limited Luxurious Leather Box embossed in Ice Grey, including Digi CD (500 copies)
Limited Black Vinyl in Gatefold Jacket with printed Inner Sleeve (500 copies)
Limited Splatter Red & Black Vinyl in Gatefold Jacket with printed Inner Sleeve (500 copies)
Limited Transparent Marbled Orange & Black Vinyl in Gatefold Jacket with printed Inner Sleeve (500 copies)
Limited Splatter White & Black Vinyl in Gatefold Jacket with printed Inner Sleeve (500 copies)
Limited Black Tape (100 copies)

Merch is also available: T-shirt, Black Zip Hoodie, White Zip Hoodie

PRE-ORDER: https://thecirclemusic.gr/product-category/the-circle-releases/?filter_artist-name=gates-of-ishtar

Merch pre-order: https://thecirclemusic.gr/product-category/the-circle-releases/the-circle-releases-merchantise/

“Murder the Light” Tracklisting:
1. In Fires Forged
2. Ghosts
3. Murder the Light
4. Mother North
5. Let Go of My Burden
6. Dawn of Time
7. Nevermore
8. Still Life

Line up:
Andreas Johansson: Rhythm Guitars
Tomas Jutenfäldt: Rythm and lead guitars
Mikael Sandorf: Vocals
Markus Parkkilla: Bassguitar
Fredrik Andersson: Drums

Gates of Ishtar online
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gatesofishtarofficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gatesofishtar/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/257fj7lr05pM5LMDL6TUp7

The Circle Music online
Website: https://thecirclemusic.gr/
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/thecirclemusic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Circle-Music-109161897443413/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_circle_music/
Bandcamp: https://thecirclemusicfamily.bandcamp.com/

There have been a couple of lineup changes, with Alex Taylor coming over from the now split-up Aklash. Still, the most impactful addition is Lydia Williams on soprano vocals, joining Freya and her hawkish screams and her own clean vocals. And it’s this brilliant duality that drives this 6-song, 42-minute gem.

The core sound, musically, is still rooted in the 3 above-mentioned bands, and done really well, with some gorgeous, uplifting riffs, but when Williams and Freya play off each other, which is thankfully pretty often, it’s really special. Imagine a sonic representation of that elegant cover art.

It happens on most, if not all, the tracks. And it’s intertwined with the expected builds and moments of acoustic/atmospheric introspection, and some sumptuous riffage and solos. For example, Williams takes the lead for the majority of the largely very chill opener “Nervosa”, until the  7:18 mark where Freya jumps in, and the song explodes into a jangly, 6/8 canter.

Second track “The Guide” might be my favorite track, with an alluring sway early on before a shimmery bridge and eventual 6/8 crescendo at 6:07 that is truly stunning. The same sort of breathtaking light/dark structures appear in my second favorite track, “Wildfire”, an utterly perfect album closer, with riffs that could have come right off Deafheaven’s Sunbather.

 The emotive “Retrace” has a surprisingly feral, urgent explosion (as does the more Opeth-inspired “Dissociate”) around the 3:08 mark, and also delivers a pretty special transition at the 6:46 mark, after a few minutes of lovely acoustics and William’s vocals. The song ends with a really emotional bridge.

How these guys aren’t on AOP, Season of Mist, Northern Silence, or Personal Records is beyond me. Wilderness is a pretty much perfect example of the genre, and they seem like a nice group of folks based on my interactions with them a few years ago. 

Weather aside, it’s ‘western’ black metal act, Sunscorched, that I’m here to talk about… I’m not Max Velocity, hahaha!

This debut album is called Blood of the Badlands, and let me tell you one thing straight away: they are NOT a clone of Blackbraid! These guys are in Arizona and Blackbraid are from New York, so there’s a difference right there. But their approach couldn’t be more different.

The first track is an instrumental called “Whiskey and Oak” it meanders along like a peaceful creek running through the desert, it reminds me of “Blackout Bar” by :Skull&Dawn: mostly for the swagger it has; like that of a gunslinger who has just won a duel in the streets of some shitty western no name town, leaving his opponent lying in a pool of his own blood.

“Stranger’s Land” should be enough to dispel any notion of Blackbraid worship. Where Blackbraid plays sort of a Swedish style of Black Metal (think Marduk and Dark Funeral), Sunscorched is more Eastern European than anything else in that they almost sound Finnish, on the Behexen and Horna path, but there’s also something else that I can’t put my finger on. Maybe when you listen to it yourself you’ll see what I mean.

Really quick, I want to talk about the artwork. I’m quoting from the release: “Visually, the album is anchored by Frederic Remington’s 1901 painting The Old Stage-Coach of the Plains, reinforcing Sunscorched’s focus on the mythologized American frontier, a world where movement, violence and isolation define existence.” That picture is cool as FUCK! It perfectly describes the music played on Blood of the Badlands.

“Slaughter at Camp Grant” balances tempos and emotional gravitas with an edge of Enslaved-style urgency as Sunscorched paint devastating tapestries across the Southwestern skies. It’s a violent track that is representative of the story being told. Next up is “Vultures that Circle my Grave” and this is one of my favorite songs; it’s a punishingly beautiful ode to loss, existence, and the human experience.

“The Gallows Tree” and “Thousand Year Drought” are sloooow, doomy… borderline DSBM on the scale of Happy Days. “Blood of the Badlands” literally starts off as a bloody stallion racing across the desert and ends up as a soaring eagle with wings of fire. The title track is a blistering whirlwind, an instrumental powerhouse, and it roars like thunder over a mountain.

I fucking love Blood of the Badlands. This album isn’t Blackbraid, and it doesn’t need to be, since there’s already a Blackbraid and they’re doing just fine, thank you very much.

I mentioned a few bands here, trying to help with the tags, but it’s your journey to take in the end. I recommend it, so go get it.

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!!

The whole reason I grabbed this promo was because of the mention of The Birthday Party; they’re such a wild, balls-to-the-wall part of Nick Cave’s history that name alone drew me in. The Back of Beyond is a fucking banger; it’s ridiculous how good this album is.

Right off the proverbial bat, Dry Wedding grabs you by your pathetic cerebellum with “Arrowhead”, and there’s that raucous abandon that made The Birthday Party so awesome back in the day. Chugging along with gusto, it becomes a Gothic Western number with a bit of Fields of the Nephilim flavor.

There have been setbacks in the past that might have destroyed a lesser band, but they have soldiered on. There was the pandemic and the release of The Long Erode (2020) that had the band doing shows behind glass, and then in 2023 some asshole stole their van and gear during a West Coast tour. The second album was released independently and is titled Sway (in case you were curious).

Moving on, track numero dos is “The Serpent Box” it is super upbeat, like a court jester on Meth. It jingles and jangles to a crazy Birthday Party beat. It’s wild and unhinged, and is followed by one of my favorite tracks on The Back of Beyond, “Sure as a Gun”. It’s angry, spewing vitriol and resentment, but it’s taking its time while doing so. It’s in no hurry whatsoever, a slow, meandering ode to murder.

“Blood-Red Vengeance” features some killer slide guitar and, for the most part, just exists in its own psychotic story; it’s also the shortest song on The Back of Beyond, coming in at just 1:59 minutes. Nonetheless, it leaves its bloody handprints all over the album. “One Last Strand” feels like a Punk-Western version of “Whiplash” by Metallica. It’s ridiculous fun, and it will get your ass moving. It gathers power and unleashes it until the vibrations shaking the earth have subsided. Chadwick Ferguson treats his bass like it owes him money. A vibrant, malicious track if I ever heard one.

“Moths” is haunting and triumphant, the chorus is massive, and it all swarms around your head, bouncing off and coming at you from all directions. It’s a hair raising track and I fucking love it. “Shifting Wilderness” is the last track and it fucking smokes like a wildfire in June. It’s not fast, it’s just steady sailing on black waters. This is the kind of music that is perfect for 100+ weather, dry and brutal and utterly unforgiving.

It’s safe to say that I’m all in for Dry Wedding. Albums like this are rare and I grab them when I can. The Back of Beyond is a stellar album. It’s mixing of genres and the way it grabs you from the get go are the reasons why I think you need this album in your life.

If you like Nick Cave, Fields of the Nephilim, Swans and 16 Horsepower; you will no doubt eat this album for breakfast. So run, walk, drive or fly to your nearest mom and pop record store and pick it up. You won’t be disappointed.

Norway’s Dimmu Bongir is new to me, but you can tell by their moniker, the Hordanes Land-based album cover, and prior album titles like Hvis pipen tar oss and Dark Medieval Hash, what scene and bands they are parodying, all based around marijuana of course.

Even though the Jaldaboath songs are listed second, I’ll start with them. I thought they had called it quits after The Further Adventures…, They teased a comeback with three singles in 2023: the pub questing “Alehorn Battalions” (of which I am a member, owning the namesake shirt), bouncy “Fayre Robin”, and the catchy “Ogre of Ogmore” (though I can’t place the song it is parodying). Those three songs are contained here, as well as a new song called “Beefeater” (a very English food chain as well as the Royal Guard you probably know).

They deliver what you’d expect from Jaldaboath;  ‘Hammering Heraldic Metal’, \’Crusader-core’, ‘Tumultuous Teutonic Templar Thrash’. Their words, not mine. Though the first three are lacking the usual UK TV/ kids show stuff as before, they are still catchy, folky jaunts with sing-along moments. The new song “Beefeater”, however, does return to the band’s very English roots and references, even the child’s hymn “He’s Got the Whole World in his hands”, and another kids’ playground song you’ll recognize. I hope it’s a sign that a new album is in the works.

Dimmu Bongir‘s songs are all new, and as they have on their two albums (i.e “Bongblåst”), are much more pot parody-based, with song titles like “Her Ghost in the Smoke” and “Inno a Marijuana”. Of course, they play a tinny, early 90s form of Symphonic black metal, and it’s OK.

Early, more raw Dimmu Borgir is the backbone of the style, but certainly Satyricon, early Emperor, and Cradle of Filth are in their crosshairs. The keyboards are suitably and possibly intentionally hokey, but as they werer back then, they work. Sound-wise, if you didn’t know they were a parody band, you’d be forgiven for thinking they were just a band paying homage. Which they, of course, could be as well.

“Her Ghost in the Smoke” actually has nice riffs and synths I enjoyed (and a parody Dani Filth screech), and the mid-paced “Alt mekk er svunnet hen” is actually a pretty cool little song as well, with clear early Dimmu influences that could have been on Enthrone Darkness Triumphant. “Inno A Marijuana,” of course, has a take on the classic Emperor song’s clean chorus as well as a guest spot from The Grand Master Jaldaboath delivering his special take on TheLord’s Prayer.

I’m just glad to see Jaldaboath ‘back’, though they never officially went away. The Dimmu Bongir material was a pleasant benefit, if even if just for the sound they are parodying, as the whole weed theme didn’t do it for me.

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!

So when I started listening to Apex, and got further and further into the album, and there were no keyboards or orchestration, I was a little disappointed, as it appears the band, going against the grain, has removed the ‘blackened/symphonic’ element, and gone for a straight-up technical death metal/ deathcore sound. And that’s Ok, so once I got over myself and listened to the album for what it is, what Complexant has delivered is a solid effort of that aforementioned sound.

There’s been quite a bit of lineup shuffling for the band since their inception in 2017. And that might be part of the shift, notably, new vocalist Dan Greigsy replaces Brendan Clark. He’s a serviceable growler, but his semi-clean vocals don’t quite work (“i.e “No Angels Weep”, “Heretical Supremacy”), and some true singing makes the band a little more commercial than their early work.

So if you are familiar with when Whitechapel or Fit For an Autopsy went more experimental/commercial, you’ll have some idea of the still sometimes bludgeoning, technical but cleaner take on deathcore.

The mix/master from Crytopsy’s Christian Donaldson is, as you expect, tight, clean, and heavy. And the riffs from Shannon Zivkovic and Gavin Bradley are razor-sharp and tight when they go full force, like “Afterlife”, the more blackened “Swing Myself to Sleep” and “Cyclops”, a couple of minutes into “Critical Mass” and “Eye For An Eye”.

But as I mentioned, there’s a slightly more commercial, metalcore element here mixing with some more blistering stuff, and along with some of the clean vocals, some of which kind of bring killer songs to a halt (“Afterlife”), the album ends up being a little bit of a letdown for me personally.

I hate to be ‘that guy’, but it’s clear my bias based on a three-year-old EP and a single song the band put out 2 years ago is coming through here, despite my best efforts. The removal of the keyboards might be a boon to some, as that style is pretty saturated, so the band’s choice to remove them is to be praised, and fans of no-synths metalcore/deathcore should still enjoy this.

But at the same time, a track like the massive mid-paced closer “No Hope for Sanctuary” screams for some big orchestral bombast, and when they teased something as magnificent as “Your Sacrifice”, Apex is a bit of a let-down, as the band doesn’t stand out at all from the masses now.

Holókauston makes me think of Incantation first and foremost. Onward to Golgotha and Mortal Throne of Nazarene more than any of their other albums. Holókauston has that sort of cavernous feel to it; Sedimentum comes to mind also, as well as Writhing. Its murky atmosphere resembles a Louisiana backwater dripping with pitch-black malice. But there’s also a Black Metal undercurrent, which is why vocalist Naas Alcameth describes Holókauston as a “heretical black opera forged in adverse esoteric and eschatological tradition” and “a madman’s alchemical experiment”.

“Hellmouth” is the opener, and it’s bursting out harder than Cronos, with a runtime of 10:33. This shit rips open wide swaths of the earth with how heavy this is. An echoing bell tolls, and right away there’s that murky atmosphere, pounding, body-shaking heaviness beyond heaviness. It gets ethereal at the 6:06 minute mark, where it takes on this whole other level of extremity… an epic fucking opener if there ever was one.

“Obscurator” is next, and there are blasts right away, no time to recover from the “Hellmouth” you just got shoved through. You’re in the fucking belly of the beast, baby. This is also the shortest track on Holókauston, coming in at a respectable 8:25. Near the middle of the song, it gets almost somber, but not by much. There are still violent whirlwinds in this oppressive storm just waiting to see the light of day.

“Howling” is the Christ-obliterating 11:09-minute third track, and it’s a fucking whopper! Slow, dripping menace like a bloody nose. It drags itself across a moldy earth before it goes completely off the rails with subtle ambience for about 2 minutes before returning to the soul-crushing heaviness. Screams echo from behind an awesome wall of sound, and it elevates this song to unbelievably huge heights.

Last up is “Iniquity”, and it’s a killer, raging track. Moving like a pissed-off bison towards an idiot tourist, it literally runs you over. You’re being gored to death by the most vicious 2000-lb wild animal whose sole intent is to get your ass out of its fucking territory. It’s a brutal, unrelenting way to say goodbye, hasta la vista motherfucker!

This re-release probably sounds better than the original, that’s usually the goal in these situations, and so if you liked it back then, chances are you will again. For those who like Incantation and knuckle dragging, Neolithic heaviness. Go on, then!

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!

And in 2024, Canadian act Apogean joined the roster and released Cyberestrictive, a perfect fit for the label, and now we have the relatively quick turnaround of the follow-up, Waste Where Life Begins, and they are still a perfect fit for the label, as the band’s second effort picks up right where the debut left off and delivers exactly what I stated in my opening paragraph.

Also, the fact that vocalist Mac Smith is involved here adds some real street cred to the band, as his involvement with bands like Decrepit Birth, Alterbeast, and the killer, Gears of War-themed tech-deathcore project Hammer of Dawn, ensures the vocals and lyrics are top-notch.

Generally, for me, 33 minutes is a tad short for an album, but here it’s the perfect length. The 8 songs, once again produced by Zach Ohren, are crisp, clear, and technical, with just a hint of keyboards here and there, and enough memorability to warrant multiple listens — often a problem with this tech style (i.e the recent The Absolution Sequence).

You get pretty epic blasters like opener “Daughter of the Oak” and “White Trees, Black Leaves”, some crunchier moments like the title track “Lie In Cinder”, the Jay Kristoff-inspired “Nassaru” and, of course, tracks that do some of everything – which, if I’m being honest, most do, but I’ll single out the killer “Hologram (Singing Silently on an Empty Stage)”.

The album’s final 2 tracks, the ambient interlude “Ritual” and “Black Smoke, Bleeding Earth”, add just a little more experimentation to an already complex album that should be on your radar if you like The Artisan Era bands or top-notch technical metal.

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!!

And now they have added another one with Austria’s Castiel (Hebrew for ‘God is my shield ‘………And also a character from the Supernatural TV show?).

Castiel has been on my radar for a while now since I heard the song “The Abyss” from 2024, and the subsequent EP Khaos, then backtracking and checking out the band’s album, Shadowlands from 2023. And they are a natural fit for Seek and Strike, if slightly different.

Yes, this is deathcore; yes, it has some blackened/symphonic elements; yes, it has the all-too-common, utterly demoic vocalist, so there is some appeal for the Lorna Shore, Shadow of Intent crowd. But for the most part, this is far more downtempo and brutish, having more in common with Humanity’s Last Breath, Praetor, Distant, and Black Tongue.

As a new label, introductory EP, this is only 4 songs and about 20 minutes, made up of 4 ‘acts’: “Defile//Denounce”, “A Festering Wound”, “Vile Spirits”, and “Empty Throne”. All four have the same lumbering, heavy, downtuned pace with a slight flocking of keyboards and atmospherics.

All 4 songs do sound pretty similar, and I wish there had been a standout moment or 2, but sadly, this is 20 minutes of continuous, suffocating, loping heft, notably on “Vile Spirits” and “Empty Throne”. Take that as a good or bad thing, but I would have liked just a little more variety personally.

Still, a solid introduction to a larger audience on Seek and Strike, nd I will still definitely check out the no doubt impending full-length album. And hope for just a little more.

Four long years later, Ad Finem Omnia have returned from their Chilean tomb to unleash a new album upon this wretched world. Senectus Viae is the sophomore album I’ve been waiting for.

After I review something really good, I start looking forward to the next album. Some think I’m weird for that. “dude, the album just came out.” Yeah, I know. I’m just getting ready for the next big thing.

Is it worth the wait? Fuck yeah, it is! Here’s the rundown.

Beginning with an “Intro…” that segues into “The Hermit and the Wind” and we’re off to the races. Reminiscent of “In Defiance”, it builds towards the ultimate discharge, blasting interspersed with alternating Thrash beats. It gets atmospheric around the four-minute mark and continues that way for a good minute before the guitars rise up and take off with furious blasting as well.

Eight songs in forty minutes, and next up is “Inner Decay”, a no-frills atomic bomb that sets in to punish you for no reason other than it can. Ad Finem Omnia are veterans at this point, taking ideas from No Peace-No Dawn and expanding on them like memories on a theme.

“Anguish and Revelation” has a bit of a Darkthrone vibe to it, especially mid-track when the tempo shifts to a sinister blackness reminiscent of Ravishing Grimness and Sardonic Wrath.

Senectus Viae isn’t set on reinventing the Black Metal wheel and it doesn’t need to. Even on their second album, Ad Finem Omnia sounds like they’ve been doing this for years. The production is spot on, and the cover art is very representative of the violence contained within.

“The Leaf that Refused the Light” is epic and unapologetically atmospheric. The furious blasting at the beginning gives way to a solemn midsection before ripping off the bandages and sticking their fingers in the open wounds that are already bleeding from the beating you’re receiving. “Where Existence Fails” is up next, and it’s another exercise in brutality. This motherfucker is a bruiser, and I’m all here for it.

“Abolish God” spits venom and hatred towards all things holy, as it should with a title like that. The ending comes with the instrumental title track and it’s bloody awesome, twists and turns like the Nürburgring, and builds upon hypercar velocity.

I’m near the end here, and I’ve yet to make the important decision that must be made… is Senectus Viae better than No Peace-No Dawn? Or is the predecessor still the champion? I think it’s pretty well balanced. The latter had the immense power of “Vultures” and “In Defiance”, while Senectus Viae has the brilliance of “The Hermit and the Wind” and “The Leaf that Refused the Light”. That’s not to say that Ad Finem Omnia didn’t pour their souls into this masterpiece, because Senectus Viae is a fucking beast of an album. These guys have dropped a ruthless Black Metal album that needs your attention.

For the Darkthrone and Watain lovers out there, go get it!

So now, after 3 albums in 4 years, the band waited 6 years after Premonitions to release album number four, switching to Italy’s Avantgarde Music from Napalm Records, and also switching out long-time female singer/guitarist Chloe Bay and Lucia Amelia Emmanueli (female vocals) for a pretty recognized name in former Draconian singer Heike Langhans.

The result, though, is the same: absolutely top notch atmospheric/ symphonic, Gothic, melodic black metal.

I know the above stylistic description is a bit messy, but Sojourner pulls in from a wide array of styles from Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir to Summoning, Theatre of Tragedy, Insomnium, Draconian, and more obscure bands like Dismal Euphony or Duskmourn, just to name a few.

Either way, this is superb, and Mike Lamb (keyboards, guitars) and co. still know their way around a sultry, somber, but epic riff or hook, and with Langhans’ angelic voice adding some gorgeous throes to the proceedings (as Bray and Emmanueli did before her), it’s all just wonderfully emotive, enthralling and captivating.

Just listen to the chord progressions, vocal combo and keyboards of the gorgeous second track, “And the Paintings Fall” and “Lunar Tear” early on, and the absolutely knee-wilting closing standout “The Road Ahead”, which are all pretty heart-melting.

And while many of the choruses and elegant moments do lean a little harder into Gothic/Doom/Beauty and the Beast type moments (i.e. “Occultations”, “Epitaphs”), the band is still capable of delivering small bursts of more sweeping, death/black metal motifs as well to keep things just a little more biting (i.e “Dawnrays”, “Vvarfendell”).

In all, another fantastic release from Sojourner, who should definitely be a bigger player in the world scene and the style moving forward.

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!

Six years after the excellent, previously mentioned album, the Canadians are back with… Within. I’m here to tell you there’s no loss of potency, energy, or quality from the extended break.

You can quote me on that and listen to “Fishhook.” It’s upbeat and infinitely relatable. The chorus is one of those that sounds cheesy at first, which it is, but they’re no stranger to it. In case you didn’t know or had somehow forgotten, the band’s musical chops are on full display with stellar performances all around. Rody expresses more optimism than I do as far as bridging the partisan divide that plagues the planet, but especially the United States.

I’d rather talk far less about my country, so I’ll move on to track five, “The Orchard.” There’s another excellent hook in the song’s refrain, but it’s also another display of their stellar musicianship. There’s a quick turn into power metal territory during the instrumental section not long after the first chorus, which shows the band can pull off anything if they wish. It’s excellent, but not quite on the same level as the closer; not much is.

That last track in question, “The Mariner,” I am appropriately going to feature at the end of the review. It’s quite an anthem. There’s enough technical brilliance to take the breath away of any accomplished musician. However, there’s a succulent, meaty chorus on which the casual fan can feast. It might impact your stomach, butit  will assuredly hit you in your heart, then get stuck in your brain.

It’s difficult to label Within as anything other than Album of the Year material. It displays ina  stunning fashion a band that is firing on all cylinders. They’re pissed off, but who can blame them? However, there is an underlying optimism permeating the entire album. This isn’t your typical 2026 “end times approaching” masterpiece. Sure, there’s some doom and gloom, although you’d never know it because of how up-tempo Protest The Hero’s signature sound truly is, but there’s hope.

I had a pretty good online relationship with founder and drummer Rikard Wermen, and interviewed him a few times for other publications. But while listening to those albums, I thought to myself, “No one has really recreated that sound since”; That utterly savage but clean blend of brutal death metal and grindcore.

But here comes Denmark’s Genocide Doctrine, comprised of veterans of the Danish scene (Dreadlord,  Dysgnostic, Serpent’s Lair, Abscission, Carbon Tomb, Urkraft, to name a few), and the second opener, “Cesspit”, ripped into my ears; Deranged instantly came to mind.

It’s a nasty, blistering, unrelenting mix of brutal and technical death metal and Napalm Death/Nasum-y grindcore. But it’s got a sharp guitar tone, some nasty, demonic vocals, and a dense low end.

With 18 songs in 27 minutes, the grindcore brevity is condensed into a vicious death metal sound, with the longest songs at just under three minutes (“The Totalitarian” and “Bottom Dweller”). It blasts by with a complete disregard for memorability, just sheer teeth-shattering velocity and power cords as heard on “The Filth of Man”, “A Stain Upon Existence”, “Inside” and the 24-second “Sic Semper Tyrannis””

A couple of more throbbing, slower tracks like “Just Meat”, “Bottom Dweller”, “Iron Lung”, the groovy “Punishment Revoked” add a little reprieve, but not much, as the album will leave you reeling and concussed from start to finish.

I don’t even know where to start. I picked this one fine promo day, and unfortunately it has sat here waiting for me to listen to it. Today is the day, and I’m here to tell you, constant reader: you need to hear this. Especially if you are/were a fan of those odd Norwegian bands that came out in the 90s like Ved Buens Ende and Fleurety. This is definitely not your Impaled Nazarene or Horna or anything like that. This is a different beast altogether.

Back in 2021, Shadowy Peripherals was released and then… nothing. But over the course of those lost years, they grew from a trio to a quartet, which is where we are now. The production is stellar, the artwork is killer, and most importantly, the music is absolutely fabulous.

Starting with “Culprit Sunsets (To Chew on Darkness)” proves that this corpse has risen. There’s actually emotion in there that gives me the willies. It’s not all just blast and repeat; there are tempo changes galore, and it’s easy to get caught up in it all. There’s some Folk Metal, some Power Metal, plenty of Black Metal all pulled off with artistic flourish.

“Purple Storms (The Desert Unites and Cloaks the World)” is next and right away I can tell this is going to be a mind-scraping ride. This is nine tracks in forty-one minutes and fifty-one seconds, and I can cheerfully report that no song sounds like the other. This is what I’m talking about: balance. It’s a force of nature on Melas Khole; I want to absorb this album like a sponge. It balances the brutal with the beautiful, and takes you on an ethereal journey across time.

“Twinhearts (Fall from Grace Again)” is, at the beginning, an atmospheric stomper. Every note is given a singular purpose; the build-up to the last few brutal moments of this song is fantastic, and when it happens, it comes on deadly riffs and earthshaking blasting. “Melankolia (The Silent Acceptance)” slows things down considerably; it’s an emotionally charged bit of somber that washes over your mind and crushes your soul with its gravitas.

“The Redeemer (Smudged Flesh Withers)” ventures into Arcturus territory circa Sham Mirrors with angular riffs and a drum pattern that’s out of this world. “Revelations (Gone in Remembrance)” rages with elemental fury, demanding your full attention, and it grabs you and throws you into the wall.

“Echoes (At the End of the Rainbow)” has Arcturus on speed dial with this one; the off-kilter feeling pulls at your sense of equilibrium, while closing track “Hollow Minds Collide (In Ominous Wellbeing)” moves through space and time to open up the gateway to your mind’s eye, then gouges it out with pliers.

At the end of the day, you really need this album in your life, especially if you enjoy that period when Arcturus and Ved Buens Ende were introducing themselves to the unsuspecting world as a whole. Don’t sleep on this one!