This is a quirky album. It is its own best friend. Some parts are super fucking depressing, parts where you’ll boogie till you puke, and then parts where you just feel alive. So, how is it a Black Metal album? I’ll speculate on that in a second.

It’s Punky as fuck on the opening track “Space Heater”, like Reverend Horton Heat on meth. Hyper as an un-medicated child with ADHD, it’s bold and brash and doesn’t give a shit what your mom thinks. “Ærlig Talt” reminds me of Björk and her vocals with the Sugarcubes; hell, even on her own, she’s an angel. The song has a sense of whimsy and positivity (they could be singing about slaughtering kittens for all I know; it’s in Norwegian).

“Stellar Suicide” is a perky Goth chick in a sundress, but when Twin Serpent goes dark, they go pitch fucking black. So the song jangles and bangles along all the while begging for your attention. It’s also the single from True Norwegian Blackgrass, oh, the wonders of insanity! “Freak Flag” is one of my favorite tracks, “come join the dark side, come to the cool side”! I fucking love it, and it’s all delivered in this delicious homage to American Bluegrass.

But this is ‘True Norwegian Blackgrass’… how is this album, with no blast beats whatsoever, barely any distortion, and absolutely zero mention of Satan; how can this be a Black Metal album? Very carefully, if you understand the core beliefs of the Black Metal movement. These are lyrics about love and loss (“Ain’t Home No More”), the epic breakup song where the guy coldly states, “you’ll die alone”. Fucking heartbreaking and savage as hell. “Hundromshelvete” is just fun as fuck, like the whole album is fantastic but it’s little bits like an electrified banjo pulling off some deadly solo licks that get the redneck in me doing something like dancing.

“Tusen Takk” is this drawly, lazy as fuck until the 1:13 when the song sits up and yells at its kids to shut the fuck up. “Radiophobia” has this apocalyptic Nick Cave vibe to it, and that’s another reason why I like this album so much. It has that Tom Waits awkward and off-kilter time signatures that laugh in the face of all convention, and that, goddammit, is what makes this a Black Metal album.

There’s songs that give me the willies. “Forventninger” is just wilding with itself. Around the 1:40 point, there’s a badass little break, blink, and you’ll miss it, but it’s killer. “Holy Ghost” has a revival spirit to it, a bit of Nick Cave once again leaks in, giving it a confidence boost. “Kipu Kivi” is a haunting track. Creepy banjo against these almost chanted vocals, Hanna Fauske has moments where she sounds like Björk, and this is one of those times.

Closer “Anti-Nation Blues” erupts in spurts (clean out your minds, ya pervs) at times being quiet and resistant to hysterics, but a second later it’s just fucking chaos and the baby is out with the bathwater.

Final verdict is that I fuck heavily with this album, I became friends with it, we smoked bowls together, and cuddly shit like that. If you think this is up your tree, it just might be. Especially if you’re a fan of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Tom Waits, and Roy fucking Clark. Get this album and line dance in your front yard just to piss off your HOA!

Then a promo came across my desk that touted Statement of Wills as ‘for fans of Doom metal, hardcore, 90s death metal and the New Orleans sludge sound‘. So I grabbed it, and then, as a bonus, found out the band was founded by Derek Kovacs, who founded one of my very favorite 00s hardcore bands, Built Upon Frustration. He’s joined by Bob McSherry on drums and Jake Morris on bass.

The promotional description is pretty spot on, except I’m not getting much 90s death metal. This is a sort of doomy, sludgy hardcore that does have some Crowbar-ism, but you can also hear Kovacs’ hardcore roots, with the riffs and his bellow that are reminiscent of his Built Upon Frustation days. 

The guitars are nice and beefy, delivering simple, stout riffs that come across as a slightly moody, doom-ish version of Kovac’s hardcore days. But that said, none of it really sticks or hits hard, lacking some of the emotional and actual sonic heft of a Crowbar, etc.

There are some decent riffs like opener “Visibility”, ‘Two Worlds” or the closer “Light The Way”. They try to get a little more draining on “Existence Denied” and “High Above”, where there are some cleaner croons, but it doesn’t quite land. And that sums up the album. It’s decent and something I’ll listen to as background music, but there’s nothing here that pulls me back, demanding I listen to it again, beyond reviewing purposes.

Original bassist/vocalist Cronos has been keeping things going, and the band itself, with Rage on guitars and Dante on drums, has remained stable for over 15 years. I love the first four Venom albums. Welcome to Hell, Black Metal, At War with Satan, and Possessed were all monumental in the merging of NWOBHM with a style that Venom started, called Black Metal. After Possessed, the band never reached the heights of those albums, releasing lackluster albums with no memorable staying power. Venom has remained a cult phenom and I was lucky to see them at MDF years ago; however, due to the band not doing tours in the USA, they have remained, still more of an underground entity. I feel that if the band had released good albums over the last several decades and had been touring, we might have seen Venom touring with the likes of Slayer, Exodus, etc, you name it. But major acts are not going to take out non-touring artists. Facts.

Knowing how Venom’s last albums have been, I was not expecting much from this 13-song, 43-minute-long album. The first single released months ago was “Lay Down Your Soul”. Going into the song with zero expectations, and I mean zero, considering the band had not put out anything good in four decades, this song knocked me on my ass. Going all the way back to their Welcome to Hell debut, this song brought back the raw NWOBHM and Black Metal that the band created. Galloping madness with an extraordinary lead riff and super catchy chorus with lyrics tying into their earlier works…’Lay Down Your Soul…To the Gods Rock and Roll’. The music is updating the original Venom sound, and the song is fast and has excellent guitar solos to boot. Cronos sounds like a man rejuvenated, and he sounds flawless on this. I even played their original four albums back to back and then played this song, and honestly, this song could have been on any one of those tunes. It is that excellent.

We can rewind to the song opener, the title track. With its atmospheric buildup, the song quickly gets into the speed with organic and well-timed double bass drums. True headbanging moments and some pinch harmonics as well. This song takes their 80’s sound and gives it a bit of a facelift. We even have some cool guitar harmonies happening on here. The NWOBHM ever-present sound, which helped define Venom, is all over this sucker.

Before I get into another song, let’s speak about the album cover. Seemingly, AI-generated, keyboard killaz out there are already panning this album and other albums using AI imagery. I have been roped into some online battles recently, and I told these punks it’s up to the band to use the art they wanna use. Now, if you wanna be a purist and not listen to the music or drag down the band, because of the art they are using, then that is your fucking loss. I only draw the line when it comes to the music. AI is being used for music, which I am not supportive of. Anyway, the AI imagery of the Devil is ok, but if you have the album through Apple Music the cover is interactive with the Devil’s head moving and opening its mouth. I was looking at this at night, and it’s pretty creepy. Love it. Off soapbox now.

“Man & Beast” is a slow cruncher of a tune, and with the guitar slide and the song title being gang shouted, it is perfect and the perfect song to put in the middle of their live set. One of the catchiest songs the band has ever recorded. This is also one of the heaviest songs Venom has ever written. I can see the band and fans headbanging in unison while the song is being played live. The song gets into a quicker gallop, over the guitar soloing, before getting back into that catchy beat. Terrific song.

“Kicked Outta Hell” is a nice, cheeky number with an excellent opening guitar moment, then traversing to an all-out thrash assault. The song slows back down, and this song has 1982 Venom written all over it. The song picks up the pace with the song title being screamed out. There are tempo shifts galore, with excellent mid-paced and fast moments sprinkled throughout the song. The repetitive nature keeps the song catchy and memorable. There are a lot of other terrific songs on the album, and the brooding “Unholy Mother” closes out the album with catchy bass lines. Memorable synths and a doomy song overall. This is a very cool song to close out the album. Live, I am unsure how it would go over. On a recording, it’s great, but it may lose the focus of the crowd.

If Venom’s prior output, after Possessed was anything close to Into Oblivion, I feel there would have been demands for them to tour and bands taking them out. This would have translated into the Venom name being spoken in the same breath as let’s say Slayer, etc., Exodus, Testament, etc.. This album sounds as if it could have been released after Possessed. With its strong ties to their 80’s legendary sound and the strong songwriting on this album, this album is the top of my list for 2026. To hear the band return to form with such a strong album, this sucker smokes other new 2026 albums, of their long-time brethren – I am looking right at you, Exodus. Venom – welcome back for Devil’s sake and thank you, thank you, for welcoming us all back to your Hell!!!!!!!!!!!

But then, I sorta went off it, much like many genres that experience rapid growth, it became stale, saturated, overidden by clones, and the forebearers changed thier sound a bit. I can safely say the last band in the style I truly enjoyed was the UK’s Lightbearer.

This brings me to another UK (Scotland) post-metal act, Void of Light, and their debut, Asymmetries, an album I grabbed to see if the genre interest could be reignited after some time away.

5 songs, 48 minutes, and all the hallmarks of the genre’s classics are here in spades; sumptuous yet atmospheric builds, big, shimmery, emotive riffs, crumbling crescendos of mountainous heft and pained bellows and screams, with introspective moments, and croons/whispers. It’s all here and well done as the opening duo of “The Passing Hours” and “Silver Mask” and lumbering but suitably climactic closer “Mirrorings” demonstrates admirably.

A couple of more urgent, almost blacker metal explosions inject a little pacing here and there, such as “Ends”, and otherwise more controlled “Still The Night Skies”.

Asymmetries hasn’t completely reinvigorated my love of the genre, but it has at least had me searching for some newer bands in the style as well as revisiting the classic bands mentioned above, too.

These UK filthy death metal merchants released two prior albums and some EPs. Really quality death metal, and when looking at the label, you should know this will be gnarly. Cryptworm conjure up the filth ala Undergang, Rottrevore, early Carcass / Autopsy, and Demilich. The same three fellas return: Tibor Hanyi – Bass, Guitars, Vocals, Joss Farrington – Bass, Jamie Wintle – Drums. I have really enjoyed all their other releases, but by the third album, we do want to see maybe an album taking it to the next level, and that is exactly what Infectious Pathological Waste does. I mean, look at the album cover, yet another gore-drenched cover, and this fits the song titles to a T.

Eight songs in 35 minutes, and “Gallons of Molten Hominal Goo” opens the album. I actually ordered several gallons of this on the Amazon dark web. It comes in several different variants, like vinyl. The splattergasm olive green is the best. As soon as the drum rolls erupt and the putrid, clogged sewer pipe Demilich/Undergang-inspired vox explode, it is clearly evident that some production adjustments were made. There is more bottom end on this sucker, and while the Cryptworm sound remains intact, it sounds a bit more crushing. I love their guitar tone, and when the galloping starts at the 1.45 section, it is pure classic 1990. The song meanders into a quick blast, then to a slow moment, and more galloping. If this song does not conjure up the brown note within you, then nothing will except some YobaGoya (watch The League TV show, for that reference).

“Drowning in Purulent Excrementia” goes right into a massive blast beat with filthy vocals. The power comes when the band slows down, and those vocals take over, so filthy and filled with carbuncles. The song gets into a gallop, then more blasting. The guitar tone is dense yet discernible and does not sound like a mess. The blasting, at the 2.30 section, is excellent, and the snare sound is perfect. It cuts through without any high-pop sounds. I know our editor in chief will enjoy this drum tone.

The title track has a nice hoppy opening before the isolated guitar riff takes us to a terrific galloping moment and then some double pounding. The song returns to the beginning, opening with a hoppy slow moment. This part is actually quite happy-sounding, then the faster sections take over, with the plopped-out, stench-filled vocals. These slower moments, incorporated, will definitely start some circle pits. I want the band to film their circle pits during these moments, and if in the UK, the fans better be eating some fish and chips while slamming into each other. There are slower and doomier pathways to this song, and true heaviness is what this band is made of.

“Encephalic Feast” ends the album with a badass isolated guitar riff opening things up. The rest of the music joins in, as well as the vocals. This slow, dirgy, and quicksand-like pace gets even filthier with the vocal cackles and growls. I feel as if I am sinking in quicksand, not because the song is boring, but because this section is so damn dense. The song picks up the pace and some cool cymbal hits over the fast moments, then back into the slower pace with a killer growl. The song trails off in the doomy heavy fashion, as it opened, and is an excellent way to end the album.

Cryptworm has released their finest album, and Infectious Pathological Waste has it going on. From a better production, killer artwork, heavy and catchy death metal, and most of all, fun. The band has fun with the lyrics and song titles, and I enjoy seeing that in the industry. As of now, this is the filthiest, stinkiest, death metal album of 2026, and I am loving every minute of this stench fest. Driller Killer and no filler.

Which is why musically, sometimes, I just need something super simple – something that really requires little to no analyzation so I can stare into the middle distance and disassociate for a lil bit, or just bang my head without having to think too much about it. If I can tune out while still passively letting out some of the aggression or frustration built up from just generally being alive in the world? Hell yeah, brother. Sign me up.

Enter the UK’s Cage Fight – and sure, you may be thinking to yourself, “I dunno man, I’m not really sure saying a band requires little thought is actually, like, a compliment?” But I promise you, I mean this with the utmost respect and admiration. Cage Fight is one of those band that, when asked, you can genuinely just categorize them as “Metal,” and you really don’t have to elaborate any further. It’s really all you need to know, and I honestly think that’s a beautiful thing.

If you NEED to break it down, Exuvia has a little dash of everything here to please just about everyone. The first proper track, “Oxygen,” begins life sounding like it was lifted straight out of Arch Enemy‘s Wages of Sin album, with militant, thrashy guitars straight out of the Amott playbook. But instead of playing out like a straight-up mimic, the band blends in some bombastic, catchy-as-all-hell UK Metalcore elements throughout the track ala Bleed from Within or Malevolence to add a little spice to the bag, making for an aggressive, if not pleasingly melodic start that gets the blood pumping in short order. Vocalist Rachel Aspe throws everything she’s got into the mix, with a nice range of raspy, venomous harsh vocals – and a nice balance of airy cleans that come together nicely to deliver an effective and engaging listen. Throw in a good n’ burly breakdown to close out the track, and we’ve got the makings of something super fun here.

And make no mistake, Cage Fight can bring the punishment. “Pig” is a groovy, Metallic Hardcore anthem that bounces along at the kind of pace that easily inspires all sorts of pit antics – from swingy two-stepping, to more punishing crowd killing, to a good ol’ crowd-pleasing pogo. There’s even some appropriate pig squeals! Lending the track a sort of Despised Icon-esque Death/Hardcore vibe that tickles my brain aplenty – a feeling that only gets amplified on the super fun, wholly unserious “Pick Your Fighter,” featuring the squealy talents of Benighted‘s Julien Truchan on guest vocal duty. It’s a quick-hitter that minces no words about it’s intent of dealing out as much punishment in as little amount of time as possible. If you can believe it, “The Hammer Crush” pulls a similar stunt, taking less than three minutes of your time to just be fun, heavy and bouncy, featuring perhaps the album’s most fun and raucous breakdown just to really hammer the point home (see what I did there? Again, I should stress that this is not highbrow shit here. It’s just fun).

There’s also a few tracks where I stop and go “Devildriver… dat you?” only lending further to the stance that Cage Fight is just simply a Metal band (I’d even argue at this point they’re Devildriver-ing better than Devildriver themselves?). “Deathstalker,” title track “Exuvia” and the super fun and excellent “IHYG (I Hate Your Guts)” really fit the bill – a little thrashy, a little groovy, a little metalcore-y (if you squint), but honestly just quality, no frills Metal that satisfies you on a base level. The kinds of tracks that really just tap into your most basic metal needs in the best way. Aspe’s cleans on the title track are great, bringing to mind a little bit of Kittie‘s Morgan Lander (COMPLETE side note, Lander ‘s new gothy darkwave project Winterlvst with Blackguard’s Justine Ethier and Jonathan L Leduc just recently released a fuckin EXCELLENT album called Awkakening that I HIGHLY recommend. Anywayyyyyyy) and adds some really impressive and enjoyable depth to her performance.

I genuinely have nothing bad to say about Exuvia – it’s a super solid release that, honestly, wasn’t really even on my radar, but I’m really glad I had a go! It’s no bullshit, no pretense, just straight in-your-face heat that should put a smile on anyone’s face. Don’t think too hard about it, just give ‘er a rip and enjoy the ride.

If you are familiar with Switzerland’s Stortregn, then you know they started as a melodic black metal band on albums like Emptiness Fill the Void, but transitioned to a more technical death metal sound on later albums like Finitude.

Well, apparently Negro missed the band’s earlier style, as he has gone back to the more melodic black/death metal stylings of early Stortregn with No Plenitude Without Suffering.

He’s helped out by Merlin Bogado (Dyssebeia) on guitars & bass and Nicolas Muller (Akiavel) on drums to bring his vision to life. It’s a fine album of polished melodic black/death metal with a little nod to the likes of Dissection, Naglfar, etc., and of course Stortregn’s early works, but with a super clean, modern delivery.

There are some really good, enjoyable riffs here and there,  such as early highlights like the start of “Testimony of an Obsolescent World” and “Shining Amidst the Lights”, with its light keyboards.  As well as a mid-album acoustic break with ” Smells Like Dead Autumn Fire”.

“Black Flame Reviver” begins the album’s back end with a brief saxophone intro, before another fine riff kicks in, and a nice solo ends the track. And closer “Peregrination Towards Childhood Memories” sounds like a classic, more somber 90s melodeath number you might hear on a Gates of Ishtar album, rounding things out on a solid high note.

The 19 albums reflect all their cover albums too, and honestly, I am not a fan of those. Past the band’s fourth album True Carnage, 25 years ago, I felt the band started going downhill. A never-ending revolving door of members. When former Cannibal Corpse / Deicide guitarist Jack Owen entered the picture in 2017, the riffs started to become catchier and the songs a bit better. Let’s not forget they have one of the best death metal drummers around with Marco Pitruzzella (Anomalous, Sleep Terror, ex- Vile, ex-The Faceless, ex-Brain Drill), manning the helm for over a decade. Ray Suhy on guitars and Jeff Hughell on bass. The band is completed by legendary frontman Chris Barnes. Barnes has had his vocal struggles over the course of the SFU discography. Many of his high-pitched ‘eeeeessss’, ‘ahhhhhssss’ over the last several albums have bordered on comical, I will say. Never saw any real positive reviews over the course of their last several albums, mainly due to his vocals. They have started to get weaker and weaker and crack on albums, and definitely did not do those albums any favors.

The band stays true to their rocking, grooving death metal, but something is brewing on this album that has not been heard from the band in years. Chris’ vocals are actually fairly decent on this, and the songs are much more memorable with quality riffs. Now, did I set the bar low on this album, prior to listening? Perhaps. However, this past weekend I listened to this album quite a lot, and I noticed, while boxing at the gym, I was making that heavy bag my bitch. Chris has scaled back those highs to the point where they are not there. He is comfortable with his mid-range gravelly tone, and he sounds like Barnes.

12 songs in 46 minutes and opening with “Approach Your Grave”, this is an interesting album opener, as it is a slow, dirgy, and doomy number. The production is pretty darn good to boot. This song is slow, heavy, and filthy, and the lead guitar riff is excellent. The bass guitar is audible, and Barnes sounds good. Again, this is not Haunted or Tomb of the Mutilated Barnes, but his mid-range is audible, enunciated well, and the simplistic SFU formula helps with his vocals now. I would not open their live set with this song. But it’s a good middle-of-a-live-set tune, and my head bobs to this song.

“Destroyed Remains” is a faster number, and Marco has some killer drum rolls. He is trying to make the best of it because his skill set is far above the formula SFU writes and crafts. Some excellent isolated guitar riffs, and Barnes sounds pretty decent over some of the faster moments. The lead guitar riff is catchy, and we get some cool guitar solos, and I can hear a little Deicide influence in the solos. The song is rooted in mid-90’s death metal, and Marco tosses in a slight little blast every so often, but only for like 2 seconds, but still it’s very cool.

The band has always had some tongue-in-cheek chorus moments over the years, and “Mister Blood and Guts” is that one such song. It is so catchy, and while there is a dip in some of the vocal moments, Chris comes across as growly talking. Just him saying the title over and over in the beginning, for me, is catchy AF. Now, there are times a band will pay homage to an earlier band as a sign of respect. The song goes along, and the chorus repeats multiple times. When the vocals, tonnage, and phrasing of “Arriving as the living, Leaving as the dead, Aisles are filled with blood, Seats are filled with heads” now go to the classic Death song “Zombie Ritual”. Listen to the chorus moment when Chuck sings “Drifting from the living, joining with the dead Zombie dwelling maggots, now infest your head”. Whether it’s an homage or the band poached it from Death, it is almost perfectly replicated on this SFU album. I will take it as an homage to Death. Check it out, you will hear exactly what I am hearing – it’s fun.

“Grasped from Beyond” sounds like it could have been on Haunted. I am serious. The same galloping technique, and again, while simplistic in nature, it has a really nice lead guitar riff, and the band knows what they like, and they write what they like. Nice time changes, to the mid-paced double bass moments, and again some Deicide-inspired guitar solos, from Jack. Some excellent double bass moments as well, with Barnes growling “Grasped from Beyond” until the song ends. “Unmistakable Smell of Death” gets into brutality with blast beats and is definitely one of the best songs on here.

The album cover almost looks like something Carnifex would have on their albums a few albums ago, and it’s a pretty cool cover. Will Six Feet Under’s Next to Die blow you outta the water? Nope. Will you be pleasantly surprised at the improvements? I believe you will be. The band is very popular still, especially in Europe, and the band members know where their bread and butter lies, am I right?!? However, can Jack or Marco put out more intricate and brutal types of songs with another band? Absolutely! I look at it like this with the band, like an NFL team with a QB. They build the team around the strengths of the QB. Six Feet Under writes songs to the strength of Chris Barnes, now. Chris can no longer sing fast. His tones are not what they used to be; however, Chris has also made adjustments on this album with his vocals. He stays in his mid-range for the most part. He gets deeper here and there as well. There are the talky type of growly moments, but those cringy eeeeesssss etc… have taken the proverbial back seat on this album.

If you, like me, were a fan of the band’s first four albums but have been less than impressed with their output since, I urge you to give this a listen, with openness. I am enjoying the catchiness of this album and the improvements with Barnes on vocals. Call me a sucker, but I am digging this album!

I first heard Sepultura in 1990. It was Beneath the Remains, and from that opening acoustic guitar, I was hooked. It was brutal, beautiful, and violent. Its predecessors Morbid Visions/ Beastial Devastation and Schizophrenia, were still unheard mysteries to me, and I later was able to get a hold of them. It was 1991’s Arise that cemented me as a perma-fan. Its unrelenting force has made it a gateway album for millions of fans. The original lineup that consisted of Paolo Jr., Max and Igor Cavelera and Andreas Kisser were unstoppable… until they weren’t. Enter the Roots album, following the massive Chaos AD; it divided fans, and ultimately, people started leaving the band. Max started Soulfly and Igor, and Andreas formed a new Sepultura with vocalist Derrick Greene.

That’s when I lost interest. Max isn’t the vocalist anymore. Who the fuck is this new guy?!

Part 2: Irony and the present day

Against came out in 1998, and I checked it out… nope. I hated it, maybe I was predisposed to hate it because I was angry about the breakup of the band and so that might have had something to do with it. Whatever the case, I’ve refused to listen to any Sepultura album since 1998. Rewind a couple days and El Jefe is asking if anyone wants to cover The Cloud of Unknowing , it’s their last release and all… the other guys did not; so I’m taking one for the team (so to speak).

I decided to be fair and went to my streamer of choice and checked them out. The ones with Igor are tolerable at best… I don’t know what went so sideways, but it did, and ten full-length albums later they’re taking their swansong. Another full-length? No, this is like a half-day in school… It’s an EP???.

BUT! Here’s where the irony comes storming in like an army of angry Karens. I actually like… most of it. There are parts where I experienced enjoyment, and it sort of felt like the Sepultura I love (who are now known as Cavelera. Maybe you’ve heard of them). But then there are parts where I’m like, no! What the fuck are you doing? Why are you putting a fucking Twinkle Toes piano part smack in the middle of a heavy song? “Sacred Books” is otherwise a fairly heavy song, but then right in the middle… fucking Liberace shows up and poof, you’re sidelined by that shit. Like the ballad on the latest Testament album, it just pops the wind out of the sails.

“All Souls Rising” has more of a Slayer vibe, especially the solo near the end. It’s one of the fastest on the album, so of course I like it, and yeah, it’s kind of even got a bit of an Arise feeling; not a lot mind you, but it’s there. “Beyond the Dream” has the double duty as being boring as watching paint dry and then the Metallica-ish intro compounded by the song basically sounding like Godsmack, and not even a good Godsmack song (they exist).

It all comes to a close with “The Place”. It’s not a bad song. Some cool riffs shine through, but ultimately, I was happy it was over. Of course, I had to give it a fair shake, which involved multiple listens just to see if I could tease myself into liking it. In the end I like one song, I guess that’s something considering that it’s an EP; one out of four ain’t bad, right?

Anyway, if you have liked their music without the Cavelera brothers, then you’ll eat this shit up. Goodbye Sepultura, long live Cavelera!

No blackened or symphonic elements here, no super demonic vocals, none of those super heavy now required, breakdowns that get slower and heavier. Just classic deathcore. Though there are 2 atmospheric bookends to start and end the devastation. The vocals of Abe Kirkpatrick are mainly in a higher register/pitch, and the breakdowns are classic breakdowns from that era.

As if to hammer home the influence, Emmure’s Frankie Palmeri appears on the true opener after an intro, “Mouthful Of Glass”, and it hits hard with classic deathcore structures. The next proper track is “TheLastThingYouSee”, which opens with a massive breakdown, straight from the All Shall Perish playbook, but its gang chorus has a little Angelmaker as well. So modern non-symphonic deathcore fans should dig this as well.

After the short stab of “Unidentifiable Autopsy”, the last proper track, “Drop Dead Gorgeous” features JP Kaine of Surfaced, (and a classic ‘eeh-yeaoh’ grunt), and is a moodier, more menacing number before the atmospheric closer “For Me… It’s Always Like This”, shows the band’s softer side, but feels tacked on.

A pretty promising EP from a young band I’ll be watching out for, for future releases.

That is a damn fine display of brutal slam death metal. Ricky Hill is the newest member, joining last year, on guitar with guitarist Stu Hine, taking on vocals now. Richard Lynn on bass remains intact, and Mitch Rider is back on drums. They Rot Beneath Our Floor has a very violent yet colorful album cover and 10 songs in 36 minutes.

“Prelude to Your Dismemberment” is a creepy 90-second intro, setting the stage for the brutality about to bludgeon us into oblivion. “Keep Festering” comes blasting in with filthy gutturals and a brutality which continues their onslaught, from the debut. The snare drum sound has that pop sound to it, sounds very similar to Visceral Throne. The song is prime brutality with slam after slam after slam. The ending slam part has a bit of Despised Icon to it, especially in the guttural department. An excellent song.

The title track erupts with a gravity blast, then abruptly shifts to a mid-paced heavy tempo, then back into the Brain Drill type of gravity blast. Then back into this hoppy slam, where you will just want to pick up trucks and launch them over your lawn. The 1.40 section has a godly growl that is putrid and ready to maul you to death. The abrupt shifts from gravity blast to slams, I must say, is not something I have heard a slam band do. It’s one thing to go from blast to slam or vice versa. But the gravity blasting, while chaotic, is super cool to hear. Not many bands do that kind of blasting anymore. This song is supercharged in brutality and execution!!

“Complete Bowel Extraction” is not something you ever wanna hear is going to happen to you. The brutality begins, and we hear a sound clip of a knife being sharpened, then off to the races with crucial slams. The slam at the two-minute timestamp is supremely devastating. The slam takes a turn for the slower, where you can really feel the caveman knuckle-dragging brutality take hold of you. Then this slam gets even more brutal at the 3.10 timestamp. So friggin’ heavy I thought my jaw was about to fall off.

The production is really good on They Rot Beneath Our Floor. Despite the chaotic moments of gravity blasts, the guitars never lose their power, which is a huge plus. Engorgement is not doing anything original in this genre of brutal death metal; however, how they write and create slam is a huge bonus. Riffs are memorable and the music is ultra brutal. I expect nothing less from Steve and Comatose Music. This is a super fun album.

Now, since their debut, they have released a couple more albums with Shrines to the Warhead , Black Frost Fallout,  and their last album, Survival, back in 2013, but I never got around to hearing those for som reason. Then the band took a bit of a hiatus, only dropping a few singles over the last 13 years.

But here we are on a new label, with a new album. I had to go back and check out the debut, and it’s still an icky, oozing affair that hits the spot. And fans will be happy to hear that not much has changed in the Highgate camp.

The trio still delivers a blackened sludge/doom mix that taps into a blacker Crowbar or Negative Reaction, Primitive Man, Cough, Eyehategod, Wolvhammer, Beldam, etc. But one thing that jumped out to me was the new shiny, but still neurotic, fuzzed-out production, which is immediately apparent on the crawling, loping opening throes of the first track, “Terraforming Hell”, before it briefly transforms into a feral, snarling black metal gallop.

Other than the killer production, there are still the pained howls and blackened rasp of the vocals of the Porter brothers, the throbbing bass, and ample, droning, drawn-out moments of tense, paranoia-inducing atmospheres. But the emphasis is still heavily geared towards fuzzy, festering crawls that make you itch and squirm, not the warmer fuzzy stylings of their more stoner-y cousins.

The likes of “Deceiver”, the almost 10-minute spiral into dread, “The Writhing Dawn”, or the perfectly titled closer “At Paranoia’s Poison Door”, will have your teeth falling out and your skin festering as you scratch and twitch like a meth addict having the DTs.

The band has remained intact, and with eight songs in 49 minutes, the songs are a little longer than your average metal songs. No fancy intros, and the riff to “Sword Vigor” opens the album with some well-placed guitar harmonies and solos. Rather than go right into a fast song, this is a mid-paced gallop with soaring vocals, which is how they opened their debut album, come to think of it, as that was not a fast opener. Atli Guðlaugsson has a set of pipes on him that will rival any of the best power metal singers out there. Bjarni Egill Ögmundsson still strikes the keyboard with flair, and it adds to the blips and bloops of a variety of sound textures. Bjarni Þór Jóhannsson and Ingi Þórisson are even more blistering with their guitar work, scorching!! Nice album opener, however, I wanted a faster song to open the album.

My wish is granted with the second song, “Glade Lords of Athel Loren”. This is where drummer Einar Karl Júlíusson earns that big paycheck. Truly a monstrous blistering thrashy power metal song. His drum work, especially the double bass action, is perfectly executed. Midway through this 6 ½ minute number, there is some whimsical atmospherics, and the fast moment, erupting with the double bass, will knock you on your arse. Then the vocals get into a bit of a gruff death metal tone; this guy surely appreciates that. The song must be in their live set. Amazing.

“The Royal Road” is up next with a cheeky spoken word clip and right into the thrashy speed. The song gets groovy, with isolated instrument moments, and Kristleifur Þorsteinsson, with his bass guitar, starts plucking on our heartstrings, with the emotive Maidenesque melodies. This has crazy soaring vocal tones, and while we attempt to catch our breath.

“The Arcane Tower” swoops in and erupts fast. The slower elements take over with the keyboard action. The keys are never overbearing and are there as another instrument. They do, however, enhance the soundscape. The speedy elements get going with a monstrous chest collapsing double bass. Over-the-top vocals abound and even get higher in the mix. During these moments, and trust me, I love the vocals, the mix should have been slightly scaled back, as they do overwhelm the other instruments, ever so slightly. After some atmospherics, the speed and guitar solos kick in, and I am glad to hear the instruments do their thing and the vocals take a back seat for a bit.

“Aegis of Eternity” is a damn good song with terrific opening guitar harmonies and solos, then right into the fast, speedy power metal. The keys are piped in a bit louder as they seem to be doing their own solo. This is a real fun moment. The song slows down with a classic 80’s metal feel to it. The song speeds up again, like the beginning, with the keyboards almost acting like a third guitar. I love it. The 3.12 moment, with the wild keys, swirling drums, and then the guitars kicking in, will bring any power metal fan a smile from ear to ear. This is another killer song. The next several numbers are devoid of any real speed. There’s a lot of mid-paced action, and the last song, “Valediction”, at close to ten minutes, I would have liked some more speedy action happening. The song is good with thunderous, mid-paced moments, but a song this long screams for faster moments, rather than just the beginning, short, fast moment. Overall, it is a good song.

Beyond the Reach of Enchantment is a damn good album from Power Paladin. The fast power metal moments are rooted in thrash metal, with the heaviness, and I love these songs the best. For me, I think a mix-up of the song order would have been better for placement and listening purposes. However, with each song kinda going in order of telling a story, maybe that was the challenging part the band faced. The production and mix, overall, are really good for this type of music. I previously mentioned my quips. I would like to see the band spread out the faster songs throughout the album, so they don’t shoot their load so early on. I love the fantasy-laced album cover, and anytime there is a dragon in the background, count me in. Fun album.

It’s very fortunate that At the Gates gives you little time to think before getting into the first track and single, “The Fever Mask.” A galloping melodic death metal riff begins before Tomas’ unmistakable roar. Some on the staff, and I will not provide names, stated it’s “by the numbers.” Does that make it bad, though? No, that’s exactly what I wanted, and if you’re a fan of the band, I don’t see any issue.

A little further into the album, one of the best tracks, with the catchiest hook, of course, is “In Dark Distortion.” In the lyrics, there’s a call back to the first song I mentioned. The drumming of Adrian Erlandsson stands out early behind the slightly dissonant riff. The dissonance is more noticeable in the chorus, but make no mistake, this isn’t anywhere close to a Portal song.

It’s very difficult for me to pick an overall favorite track, but “Ritual of Waste” is also a great one. The poignant drums right on the beat with the riff give it all a sense of urgency. In the chorus, we are treated to some deeper growls by Tomas, and after each chorus, the music is given ample space to breathe, painting an introspective atmosphere amongst the blistering riffs.

On the first listen, I found it quite depressing that there’s an end to the album, almost assuredly marking the finality of At the Gates’ output. It’s another solid melodic death metal riff on an album full of them. With around 2 minutes left, there’s a prolonged instrumental section, proving once again that those gentlemen know how to build atmosphere, juxtaposing it with the poignant riffs, all forming a final decisive, death metal blow.

I won’t even pretend for a moment that reviewing The Ghost of a Future Dead was an easy task. I struggled with it from the first note and wanted to make sure what I say in memoriam to an icon matters. The truth is that many of the songs take similar paths and sound like one another. When listening to the entire album, though, my fears are assuaged. This is what At the Gates was meant to do, and their final (I assume) album reminds everyone in case they had forgotten. I highly enjoy and recommend it. The truth that is shown, countering my earlier statements, is that Tomas’ words and music will live on, so perhaps this god is indeed immortal.

To be honest, watching kids grow up from afar is probably more my speed anyway – and it can be a real mind-fuck of an experience! When you’re only seeing your friends’ and families’ kids every few months (let alone years!), you miss all the subtle growth and daily changes that brought them to where they are now. Instead, you just get these big ol’ jumps where they literally become entirely different people every time you see them. Oh they used to like dinosaurs? Well now they like trains. Get ready to hear everything there is to know about the Union Pacific Big Boy articulated 4-8-8-4 locomotive,  the largest and heaviest steam locomotive ever developed. But also be ready to talk about dinosaurs because no one ever gets bored of dinosaurs.

THE POINT IS, it often takes a bit for someone to develop their actual identity – time to experience and try new things, figure out what you really like and don’t actually like at all to figure out what really makes you, you. Case and point, take a look at Scotsman James McBain and his body of work with Hellripper. The project started out in life with the basic identity of, “I’m gonna play guitar really fast and write songs about the devil and evil shit.” And it was fine! McBain has always had a knack for a really good riff, and his ability to write catchy, no-frills club bangers that encouraged crowd participation and interaction has never been in question, to the point that the growth of the “Goat Kvlt” on an international stage was no joke. Tracks like “Full Moon Witchery, “Bastard of Hades,” and the fan favorite “All Hail The Goat” were all good for a quick hit of thrashing, ripping blackened speed metal for the sake of all things \M/METAL\M/. But if I’m being honest, most earlier work was a sort of “here for a good time, not for a long time” affair. A sort of one-trick-pony that was super fun in the moment, but fairly easily moved on from and forgotten about in the long term. A band I’d gladly go see live, but wouldn’t spend a TON of time becoming invested in.

That all started to change with 2023’s Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags. The killer riffs that were always Hellripper‘s trademark were still there, of course, but McBain also started to inject a lot more substance into his music, crafting an overall sound and experience that were uniquely his. First, he really started to embrace his Scottish roots by putting creatures and entities of Scottish folklore and legend front and center in his songwriting (look no further than “The Nuckelavee” and “Mester Stoor Worm” as prime examples), and even included an awesome bagpipe cameo on the album’s title track just to bring the point home (quite literally). But even more noticeably, McBain started to expand his songwriting to become far more dynamic, going beyond the surface-level impact of fast-and-furious quick-hitters and instead offering a fully-fleshed, fully realized listening experience with a lot more lasting power. It was, and still is one of my favorite albums of that year, and indeed of this decade so far, setting quite the bar for McBain to try and match, let alone top.

As usual, I’ve beat around the bush plenty – so I’ll just say it: Coronach is Hellripper‘s finest work yet. McBain hasn’t missed a beat, and instead has set a whole new benchmark for what’s possible with this project. It fucking rips. It’s so good.

True to form, this album wastes no time getting right into action – with “Hunderprest” galloping straight out of hell’s gate with a lightning storm of excellent Blackened Thrash riffs. Where before a good Hellripper riff was, in essence, just that – McBain is continuing to up his game, offering more and more stacked, harmonized riffing for a full, rich sound that keeps you coming back to pick apart more and more layers with every listen. And the insane riffs just keep piling up one after another! In days past, “Hunderprest” would probably come to an end around the 2:30 minute mark after the song’s second reprise. Here and now, we’re met with a distorted, disturbing piano decrescendo, before McBain blasts open yet another blistering, ultra-blackened riff – this time backed by a pummeling blast beat that sounds every bit as chaotic and evil as hell’s seventh layer. This all serves as a bridge into the first of this album’s awe-inspiring solo sections, where McBain puts his full chops on display – the sort of soloing built on having had a steady diet of Kirk Hammet and Dave Mustaine in your musical development. Not that it should have been in any question, but it’s a stark reminder of the level of musicianship we’re actually working with here, even if often overlooked or underappreciated.

What strikes me most about this era of Hellripper is the sense of balance McBain is able to maintain throughout the course of the album. Tracks like “Kinchyle (Goatkraft and Granite)” and “Blakk Satanik Fvkkstorm” prove that, despite some of the maturity and growth that has taken place, the unbridled fun and sadistic joy that has been the core of the Hellripper experience is still alive and well. I’d hate to ever see a version of this band where these kinds of tracks didn’t exist, and McBain seems just as happy as ever to provide them – the latter in particular really just leaning fully into the bit with an anthemic, balls-to-the-walls Black ‘n’ Roll attack that just brings a dumb smile to your face. The former is just a straight-up Thrash heater, complete with a simple, gang vocal’d chorus that will be a huge crowd pleaser, and the kind of Maiden-inspired melodies that can’t help but get under your skin and make you wanna don your battle jacket and throw horns wildly in the air. It’s an instant Hellripper classic sure to be a staple of every live gig moving forward.

On the other end of the spectrum, the midpaced, piano-intro’d “The Art of Resurrection” provides listeners with a welcome change of pace and added depth – dripping with blackened atmosphere and more infectious, anthemic sing-along moments that show McBain really has his audience first and foremost in mind in his songwriting process. Even in it’s blackened drear, there’s an uplifting, almost triumphant air to the song that seems to show McBain flexing his muscles, expressing the sort of confidence needed to rip out yet another of his brilliant solos – this one not so much reaching virtuoso status, but instead showing a level of understanding and restraint for what works with this track, another sign of McBain’s growth as a songwriter. The complexity of this one is carried over into the next, with “Baobhan Sith (Waltz of the Damned)” featuring the kind of turn-on-a-dime time pace changes and collection of riffing and solo work that will leave you dizzied, but certainly impressed. The stretch beginning around the 2:50 mark is one of Hellripper‘s finest, featuring an attack of galloping guitars that practically snapped my neck in three places when I found myself needing to headbang along with demented glee. The track rounds out with an unusually pretty (yes, I said pretty) close with mighty, gorgeous guitars backed by the tweeting of… songbirds? McBain is painting a picture of finding one’s self in the middle of a foggy Scottish wood, and I’m absolutely here for it. It once again points to McBain’s willingness to stretch out the boundaries of what’s possible from the band, finding himself within the project and who he is as a songwriter. It’s brilliant.

This far in, I won’t bog you down any more than I already have to wax poetic about the album’s final two tracks, “Mortercheyn” and title track “Coronach.” Simply put, they’re two of the better tracks McBain has put together through the history of this project – the latter being the sort of Blackened Heavy Metal opus that should grab the attention of every self-respecting Heavy Metal fan on the planet (and we get more bagpipes! Give me all the fucking bagpipes). It’s a brilliant end to a brilliant album that has brought Hellripper‘s game to a whole new depth. I’ve considered myself a fan of this band for a long time (even if from afar), but Cornonach makes me feel like that neglectful godparent who now shows up to gigs and tells everyone in sight about how he knew them as “wee lads” and always knew they were going to blow up into the juggernaut they are today. It’d be an outright lie, but fuck it – the unearned pride I feel for this band’s development is no less real and I’m holding on to it. It’s about time the world get to see what McBain and Hellripper can do, and I hope they take over the goddamn planet.

Much of the time, the Indonesian death metal albums are super short, and this follows the format, with Anatomy of Gorelust clocking in at a wee over 26 minutes. Look at the brutal album cover and you will know what you’re getting into.

“Blood Climax” starts with an excellent isolated guitar riff, from Bintang, which goes right into a blast beat. Gus Donald has a decent set of pipes, more mid-ranged, without the usual gutturals that these bands put on display. The song slows down with a killer groove and more bap, bap, bap, blasting. The snare tone is that high pop sound, and it is loud in this mix. The double bass, from Rama, is super-fast and also super-triggered. The slowdown at the 1.15 timestamp is exceptional. It quickly goes into a mid-paced moment, with more blasting and pinch harmonics. High velocity brutal death metal.

“Labia Dismemberment” is up next, and this is not what the doctor ordered for your kid. Vicious blasts, all over the place, and the mid-ranged vocals are decent. I just wish he would get into more of the guttural tones, which is what is called for in this style. He does let out a real cool growl, with a mid-paced slow down, then back to blasting like a mofo. I must point out that the guitar tone is most excellent on this album.

The next song, “Perverse Anatomy”, opens with a sound clip, which goes into a monster little roll and blast. A tad faster, and we are talking gravity blast territory. I do like some more of the mid-paced moments thrown in, but it’s then off to the blast races, where the velocity is there, and the true power comes in with the mid-paced and slower moments. The 1.25 slow down is crucial, and that guitar tone cuts through like butter. We get some pinch harmonics all over this sucker, and the mid-paced sections are cool, but brief.

I was just over a friend’s house, and I was served a “Placenta Cannibal Feast”. Let me tell you, while enjoyable, I would have added some pepper and Cajun seasonings, maybe tossed some veggies in with that bad boy. This track gets into the blasting very quickly and has a slower moment, which is awesome, than a double pounding section, then a mid-paced moment, with pinch harmonics. I feel this song should have stayed the course in these tempos. If you guessed the band could not stay in that groove for a few seconds and wanted to blast like a mofo, then you, dear reader, get a trophy.

“Impaled with Lust” ends the album and opens with a blast. The mid-paced section is lethal, and that guitar tone, being able to breathe is excellent, then back to the blast. This goes on for three minutes, same formula as the eight prior songs.

Multiwomb is a pretty good brutal death metal band, and Anatomy of Gorelust is a decent first album. The band would have more staying power by tossing gutturals into the mix, as well as allowing for those slower moments to extend more. Some well-placed gutturals over lengthier, slower, and mid-paced moments would crush the weak. The production is good, it’s loud, with an incessant and at times, irritating snare pop. Overall, a good start, and fellas, let those slower moments breathe more-that is your strongest element.

As I said in my review of Nazghor’s A World Ablaze, I’ve been digging what the reactivated Solistitium Records has been laying down, so I thought I’d check out the 6th album from this act, which was formed by Cryptic Wintermoon‘s ‘Nachtsturm’ and joined by long-time member Iskharian on vocals, and recent addition, Tyrann on bass.

What we have is a very Scandinavian-sounding black metal album, with less German…’quirk’. It’s a frosty, brittle, tremolo-picked assault of wintery salvos, with some Dark Funeral, Istapp, and early Ulver (especially some of the bass lines)/Abigor/ Emperor vibes. It’s raw, but clean and has some light atmospheres and keyboards here and there- but not quite full-on symphonic black metal, or as full-on melodic black metal as Cryptic Wintermoon, but somewhere in between.

The songs on the album are apparently all old or rearranged songs, finally given a ‘professional’ production at Nightside Audio Studio (Eis, Istapp), but they all have excellent riffs that will please fans of the genre.

After a primal, savage start, “Daemmertage” settles into a really nice melodic blast at the 2:45 ish mark, and from there on in, I’m fully into it. Riffs in the likes of galloping “Auf Alten Pfaden”, the crystalline fury of “Die alte Mühl’ im wilden Wald”, all hit that Nordic, frosty, foresty black metal itch.

The middle of the album wanders into a bit of a lull with “Im Nachtenschein” and “Wenn dereinst der Berg rief”, but the closer “Winterland / Alle hernach” is a gloriously majestic, almost Christmas-y, more full-on symphonic black metal track, ending the album on a solid high note

Why is this important to mention, you ask?! Well, because this debut is one of my favorite brutal death metal debut albums, I have reviewed, in quite some time. Sure, the band hails from the Midwest and is rounded out by John Elston – bass, Colin Foster vox/guitars, and Kevin Baum on drums, and like all Midwest death metal bands, this is a winner. One of the main reasons I love this album immensely is that there is quite a gnarly mix and influence of New Jersey’s, and my personal favorite, Mortal Decay, on this sucker!!

With 10 songs and a run time of over 50 minutes, this is a long album for this style of death metal, imo, but let’s get to “Confined to Anguish”, which opens the album. First, there is an acoustic opening moment that erupts with the music and Colin Foster laying waste with an insanely excellent growl. The gutturals and style further cement him as having Johnny Paoline, from Mortal Decay, as his biggest vocal influence. I mean, Colin’s vocals take me back to Grisly Aftermath, Brutalizing Creations, and Dawn of Misery in 0.0 seconds. But it’s also how the music is played with the sharp squealing pinch harmonics, off-kilter guitars, having a discordant bend to them. These are some complex rhythms, which Mortal Decay is known for. They created that style, imo. The song gets into mid-paced brutality, and the instruments all sound amazing. The double bass drum sound is punishing.

I love tongue-in-cheek songs, and I was lucky enough to avoid the “Boiled at Birth” family ceremony, or else I would not be here writing this review. This song has a great 90’s flair with the death metal speed, and Colin is owning the vocal elements on this. The mix of drum speeds and swirling guitar solos comes to a halt, with the song slowing down with some fantastic gutturals, and then the song speeds up with a blast. There is a terrific growl over the blast, and then the song slows down, and an Ahh growl is let out, ala Mr. Paoline. I swear, if you had told me Johnny sang on this, I would have said Yes, I know. The meandering, doomy, and evil slowdown and pinch harmonics take me back to 1994. The song gets moodier with atmosphere, ethereal solos, then the 4.10 timestamp with the vocal setup and jumpiness to the music coming in, made me punch holes in the walls.

“Slugs of Decadence” is not a side dish at Ruth’s Chris, but a brutal song indeed it is. The song begins with some brutality, then slows down with pinch harmonics and ultra-heavy guitar work. Good audible bass guitar, to follow along, and doomy and emotive. An isolated riff comes in, then a good growl to signify the time change, and this is a most excellent headbanging spot. The title track brings forth some neat guitar harmonies as the slower moments erupt and bring forth some striking heaviness with excellent guitar riffing. This section is deliciously evil and crafted by madmen. The speed is there, and some double-pounding drums with excellent double bass over this section. Then back into the mid-paced moment with some wild guitar soloing happening all around the listener. Yet another great song.

Outside of maybe some of the songs needing to be streamlined a bit, The Last Suppuration is a fantastic slobberknocker of a debut album from Protrusion. I again mention the awesome Mortal Decay influences throughout this album, yet the band still sounds fresh in a number of ways. They get into atmospherics and some ethereal moments. I appreciate that they know when to blast and how to corral it and mix it with their mid-paced moments, and slower, moodier sections.

All of this combines to create a memorable album with excellent songs. Count me impressed. This will rip your head right off and then take your head and batter your lifeless body into oblivion. Absolutely Killer!!

It’s a Vomitory album.

Done.

I mean, of course I could flesh this thing out and ramble on about this being the band’s 9th album (11th if you count the Cut Up hiatus/ detour they band took after sort of breaking up back in 2011). And how their 9th album after the hiatus, 2023’s All Heads Are Gonna Roll, was like these Swedes never stopped.

I could cut and paste reviews of Blood Rapture or Primal Massacre, and talk about how this is 37 minutes and 10 songs of the same kind of no bull shit, no frills grindcore-tinged death metal that will appeal to fans of Lock Up as well as American death metal like Cannibal Corpse, as they don’t play your standard Swedish Death metal.

I might talk about the mix and master by Lawrence Mackrory (Baest, Bloodbath, Darkane, Defleshed, etc.), who also did All Heads Are Gonna Roll, and how fucking razor-sharp and clean it is.

I could then talk about how, from opener “Rapture in Rupture” to closer “Oblivion Protocol”, the album utterly rips with furiously relentless clamor. That tracks like “For For Gore and Country”, “Forever Scorned”, “Cataclysmic Fleshfront”, punky “Two and a Half Men”  and  “Erased in Red” (with an opening riff that could be one of Cannibal Corpse‘s signature slower songs) will rip your fucking face off.

I could even mention that the only departures are the slightly slower “Wrath Unbound” and parts of the title track and “The Zombie War General”.

Then I would wrap it up and say the closer “Oblivion Protocol” is an absolute fucking scorcher of a track that classic The Code is Red era Napalm Death fans would gobble up, and even has a killer melodic lead solo to end this utterly savage album.

But by then, I would have written a full review, so what’s the point?

…..fuck.

10 songs in 30 minutes with easy-to-remember song titles. “Shish Kabobs” begins with a hysterical spoken word intro that gets right into a mid-paced, super heavy moment. Vocals are extremely guttural, with breathy tones and possibly a pitch shifter. Forget it if you think you will pick out any words, syllables, or adverbs – it’s not going to happen. The song has a great lead guitar riff, and then there are some double-pounding drums, getting into blasts. I believe the drums are programmed, you can tell, but they fit the music.

“Road Safety Certification” starts with the same guy talking, with the same voice alteration, and it’s again tongue-in-cheek. Maybe Druesome is doing these parts. Regardless, it’s funny AF. More mid-paced filth then erupting into blasting with, believe it or not, some guitar harmonies. For reference, some types of bands having this sludgy guitar sound include Mortician, Undergang, Rottrevore, and Dehumanized. While this song is blasting, we get blips and sounds, and a truck’s horn is thrown in there, which goes perfectly with the song title. The song slows down a bit, and the filthy vocals are ever-present.

“Stunt Double” has more hysterical spoken words moments about the fella being upset about the “poor dead bastard with his one eye bugging out and brains all over the floor….”, which is too much. I would assume, at this point, the storyteller works in a morgue. More mid-paced heaviness with a really good guitar tone, then a guitar solo comes in. The solo is just ok, nothing to write home about, then the blasting comes in. The blast moments are rather sloppy, so now I am unsure if the drums are programmed, but if they are, the fast moments are programmed kinda sloppy, not tight and messy sounding. The band excels with the slower, heavier moments, not the fast parts.

“Dirt Devil” is about the vacuum of the same name, doing some damage. Omg, absolutely hysterical. The slow riffs are accompanied by a pinch harmonic early on. The vocals are just part of the instrumentation with the gurgles, the vomits, and the filth. We get some weird moment where parts of the instruments are isolated, some sound effect tossed in, then the blast comes. The blast is actually very good, and the song slows back down with the sludgy riff, and the alternating between galloping and blast beats is quite excellent.

Congealed and Foaming is a better album than the debut. Gore Machine concentrated a bit more on the guitar tone and, in doing so, has created an excellent sound experience. The band achieves more of its power during the slower and galloping moments. When the band plays at the galloping pace, it’s exceedingly heavy and reminds me of Mortician in parts. The tongue-in-cheek sounds, spoken word intros, and song titles show death metal can be brutal and still laugh-out-loud fun. I appreciate Druesome taking the piss outta the seriousness of death metal and concentrating on making a fun and heavy album. Give this one-man band a try – pretty cool.

The main man is Ghramm, and according to Metal Archives, he plays “everything”. So there ya go. As far as album lengths go, I reviewed Esoctrilihum, and that album was an hour and a fucking half long. This record is a shorty, running thirty-one and fifty-six minutes without losing any neck-snapping moments.

How is it? Pretty fucking good. It’s not Emissaries. It’s raw and dirty, full of sand and grit; it suffers a bit from the one-man lack of quality control, as most songs stick to the four-minute mark; this is fine for this type of album. Starting with the blistering “La’anat Al-Woujoud (لعنة الوجود)”, the production is wafer-thin, definitely a dude in a basement with a four-track quality. It’s unapologetically raw. It’s almost Graveland-ish on “Wahat Al-Shouroud (واحة الشرود)”, there’s a cool mixer of Sitar (is that a sitar? I think it’s a sitar) and raging drums and guitars.

The mid-paced “Ana’a Al-Majarra (عناء المجرة)” keeps your attention with its killer riff structure and a wild solo. Wailing and Madness doesn’t reinvent the wheel, and the real surprises here are the Middle Eastern instruments, but songs like “Dana’at Al-Amr (دناءة الأمر)” are only elevated by the Middle Eastern melodies that poke through. Otherwise, this is just a good Black Metal album.

“Washma Ramad (وشم رماد)” is a cool Dimmu Borgir throwback track that brings to mind For Al Tid and Stormblast vibes. It’s got a crazy sitar solo against this sort of standard Black Metal track, the vocals are gravel and graveyard dirt, and work really well against the backdrop of blasting and wailing guitar work.

“Alhan Sarmadeyah (ألحان سرمدية)” sees the production drop a bit more. There’s literally no bass on Wailing and Madness, Metallica’s …And Justice for All has more bass presence than this. Which is kind of disappointing because without that low end, everything is sort of abrasive. “Hebr Al-Akwan (حبر الأكون)” has some killer ideas floating around in there. The mid-paced aspect of the track is suitably menacing, creating a new level of gravitas, but after a while it starts grating on the ears.

Final track has some badass acoustic work around the two-minute mark “Shorfat Al-Fana’a (شرفة الفناء)” is one that could’ve been on Deathcrush. Primitive riffing and thunderous drums keep things interesting but the song ultimately ends too quickly without using its full potential.

At the end of the day, I’m left with a good Black Metal album with Middle Eastern melodies. It could be great if there were more bass and a bit more oomph. If you are a fan of Melechesh and Al Nimrood, you’ll probably love this. So go get this if you want.

I am serious when I say This is Goodbye doesn’t give you many chances to breathe. The mix is loud to an almost oppressive degree. The music would be domineering even without that, let’s say, production choice. Make sure it’s turned down when you hit “play” because those speakers will crackle. The first track, “Arms of Eternity,” vomits in your face before you’ve even sat down. At the 30-second mark, they Car Bomb the shit out of you. This is how parents probably thought Slipknot sounded in their early years.

The second song, “Scarlet Ink,” teases a quick breather with some quick vocals, then of course shatters every glass object around you moments later. They have a heavy reliance at times on pinch harmonics, which are sometimes the only parts of the guitar you can hear. Everything else is smashing your face against your car windshield, then taking your mother, Dorothy Mantooth out for a nice seafood dinner, and never calling her again.

A little later, the shortest song is “Surveillance.” It’s heavy, angular, and is the auditory equivalent of getting your head slammed into a car door. Luckily, the next track, “Parting Gift,” gives you and the music time to breathe with a pinch harmonic riff for about 30 seconds. There’s a semblance of a groove with around a minute left, but it’s just an excuse to make sure you understand the bass is aggressive, too.

The last track I’ll mention is “Resurrect,” because it features the incomparable Vincent Bennett of The Acacia Strain. This track is probably the closest thing to melodic Chamber that it is going to get. The drums are unhinged, so Vincent’s vocals fit quite well. The riff isn’t out of the norm for his band and is probably the best on the album.

There are many mathcore bands who could be mentioned as influential for This is Goodbye, but the ones who certainly come to my mind are Car Bomb, as previously mentioned, and early The Dillinger Escape Plan. Mix in perhaps some Jesus Piece, and you’re riding your bike in the right neighborhood. This is going to attract a very specific audience, but only for a short time, which is great because the album is over in less than 30 minutes. I’ve worked out to it multiple times, and that’s probably the best accompaniment for something of this nature. If you’re not prepared, this album will sneak up on you and knock your wind out. It’s only recommended for those who don’t mind a collapsed lung.

I haven’t heard the predecessor, so I can’t speak to that, but the promo materials also say the band “is still skillfully balancing on the edge of death and thrash metal”. And after spending some time with Total Mastery, that is a spot-on description.

There are some clear influences at play here; the opening throes of introductory instrumental “The Pit Awaits” as well as “Mass Human Extinction” reek of Hypocrisy’s slower The Fourth Dimension while later-ish tracks, and the real opener “The Pit Slayer” and the next track “High Ground” as well as tracks like “Ruins of Reason”, recall Hypocrisy’s faster, thrashier melodeath numbers. So yeah, I’m hearing a lot of melodic death metal here, but the burlier, heavier kind, not the more wispy, Gothenburg dual-layered In Flames style.

But then I also get moments of German Dew Scented’s, snarling death/thrash (“One Shot Kill”, “Skeletal Thorns”, “The Tyrant’s Scepter”), and even some riffs you might hear on an Amon Amarth record (“Bloodsport”, “Deathtouch”). None of it is particularly original, but it’s enjoyable, well delivered, and well produced by Timo Hocke (Mantar, Downfall of Gaia).

The only downside is the album’s 51-minute run time, which is a tad long, and the last song, “Cougar Claws (Return of the Leathermilf)”, which I guess continues a character/song from the first album. It sounds and feels like a cover song, with a heavy metal vibe, that doesn’t jive with the rest of the album. I can appreciate the band showing their more humorous side, just not sure if this is it. A simple cover song would have been better, but I’m just some internet hack- you do you Messticator!

“These Vengeful Winds” comes blasting forward with a start and stop blast that is pretty lethal, and Ross “The Real Boss” sounds just as ferocious as past efforts. Ross takes care of himself, and as a singer doing this sort of vocal work for decades, he is still one of the best out there. The dissonant riffs that have Bob Vigna’s influence all over this are crucial to the Immolation sound. The start and stop groove with the 90’s era vintage pinch harmonics have pinched the angel’s legs clean off the trunk, from this album cover. That is how precise and sharp the Immolation harmonics are. The drums are pretty intricate, and the poly-rhythms are ever-present, on this album opener. This is an excellent song, one that goes for the jugular, then slows down and gets moody.

“The Ephemeral Curse” erupts with a monstrous blast, unlike the album opener, which has a very short intro, this sucker will go into your ear and rip out your eardrum. It is loud AF. More stop and start blasting with bending guitar riffs and more off-kilter drum patterns. Check out the 2.20 timestamp. It’s hoppy, dissonant, atmospheric, and just plain weird. Immolation does death metal weird the right way, as they are one of the purveyors of this dissonant style of death metal. Other bands in this style, you probably know are, Demilich, Gorguts, Incantation, Ulcerate, Artificial Brain, Pyrrhon, etc.. Terrific guitar patterns and a solo to boot. Monster blasts all around us and squealing guitars to slice your face to ribbons.

“Adversary” and “Attrition” were the first two singles released before the release of the album. I’ll take a stab at “Adversary”, since it’s supremely brutal. Monstrous opening blasts and drum rolls early on, then the discordant riffage takes center stage as the song meanders into a slower, more visceral pattern. The song goes for more high velocity blasting, then slowing down even further with some melodies, and the riffs are excellent with the album production and mix capturing Immolation’s sound. I love the drum blasting at the three-minute mark. So tight.

Ending the album with the longest track, the title track, is blistering in its opening, then the slower portion with the cool double bass pattern. The start and stop motion is hypnotic, in its dissonance, and metronome-like effect. Around the two-minute marker, a swirling guitar solo comes in, and Immolation’s monstrous presence is felt in the blasting and slower pace that erupts afterwards. This song is very catchy, and I love the lead guitar riff.

Descent bests Immolation’s last effort. The band does not rest on its laurels and has created an even more complex and brutal release, which will be on my year-end list. How the band comes up with some of their perplexing riffs…well, perplexes me! Original, brutal, and crushing – this album owns from start to finish. The ubiquitous nature of Immolation’s signature sound can be heard in so many varying genres of extreme metal; however, trust and believe there is only one Immolation!!

Last year’s A Dark Poem Part 1: The Shores of Melancholia was, in itself, an emotional roller-coaster, and on A Dark Poem Part 2: Sanguis, they take that somber pace and crank the depression to eleven.

From the get-go, we’re dropped into a relationship that’s falling or has already fallen apart. Anger and emotional distress take hold with “Sanguis (Blood Ties)” and the music perfectly matches. Punching the sky with some killer Hammond organ cranked out of its comfort zone. The opening lyrics “A house not a home, a heart made of stone… I survived you” fucking hell, that’s quite a statement, and it sets the tone quickly and succinctly. This is not a happy album.

A Dark Poem Part 2: Sanguis is a shorter album than Part 1. Clocking in at 37:14, it’s about ten minutes shorter. That’s not a bad thing, I’m just mentioning it in passing. I do think that the shorter run time lets the album stay focused and more to the point. So there’s that.

“Loneliness Untold, Loneliness Unfold” is depressing as fuck. Like, I’ve been in some shitty relationships, but the one happening within the barriers of A Dark Poem Part 2: Sanguis is imploding like the Titan submarine. The music is slow-burning and malicious, the lyrics drip with vitriol and resentment. A heartbreaking track if there ever was one.

“Sweet to the Point of Bitter” has an Arcturus vibe to it, interspersed with some epic Enslaved harmonies. The slow build at the 4:16 mark takes the song in a whole different direction; it takes on a life of its own. There’s not much in the way of blasting on this release like the last album. These are more restrained, more precise, and, dare I say, more brutal in terms of message.

“I am Time” gets up to some Enslaved-style melodies; it’s uplifting and gets the job done. “Fire in Ice” literally almost brought me to tears, and I’m not even ashamed about it. This is such a somber yet forceful attack. The music touches the soul in ways that few albums are able to hold a candle to. It’s a revelation of life after unbearable trauma. The worst break-up in musical history is played out with this killer track.

“Lunar Tale” is such a beautiful song. It’s a track about closures and regrets. The music is like a warm, comforting blanket. Unless some band puts out an album with nothing but people crying, it might be as impactful as A Dark Poem Part 2: Sanguis. Around 4:00 minutes in, the harmonies take your breath away.

Sporting a glorious production that makes you feel like you’re in the studio with the band, Green Carnation has achieved a masterpiece in the world of Metal, an incredibly emotional album that stays with you even after it has ended.

At the end of the day, Green Carnation has fully surpassed their previous albums in every way, shape, and form. This review has taken longer to write than I expected. Although I love this album, it’s so emotionally heavy-handed that it brought back memories for me that weren’t pleasant to think about. This is a DEPRESSING album. But maybe that’s what they were intending all along, and if so, they have most definitely succeeded because A Dark Poem Part 2: Sanguis is probably the most depressing album I’ve heard in a long time. Like, even DSBM is more uplifting than this… It’s where Green Carnation excel, though, and that’s why you need this album. We live in an apathetic society these days, maybe music such as this will remind us that we all share the same place when it comes to matters of the heart.

So yeah, this album sticks with you. I can still hear those riffs in my head while I sit here writing this. I’m not even sure of a ‘for fans of’ section because this is in a league of its own as far as I’m concerned. It doesn’t sound like anything I’ve heard before (at least that I can remember). My advice is that you go out and get this album post haste. Long live love!