“Uroboric Fuckwit” starts without a fancy intro. Right into a monstrous blast beat. Ferocious in nature, the song slows down at the half-minute mark with ripping double bass drums. The isolated guitar riff at the 45-second mark signifies a Holy Shit moment. It goes into the band hitting their music and vocal cues, bap bap bap, then right into the ferocious blast beat. Monstrous. I am like, ‘How can the band do it again with such intensity?’ Then toss in some spoken/screamed vocal moments, and this adds another layer to the band. I congratulate bassist/vocalist Sam Bean for adding these moments in. As previously discussed in past reviews, the band enjoys tongue-in-cheek humor, and that is inserted towards the end of this song. The band tosses in a classic Chapelle show clip to end the song, and I am laughing hysterically.

Continuing with the fun theme, instead of the MMA fighter Tank Abbott, the band titled the song “Tank Habit”, lol. Monstrous guttural growls, blasting, and some intricate guitar riffing as well. This is realized about halfway into the song, as the song gets slower with that intricate guitar picking action. It’s quite catchy and showcases the skill set of Matt Wilcock’s improved guitar playing.

David Haley has a penchant for smashing the shit outta his cymbals, and he continues the onslaught on this song, which carries over into “Burn It to the Ground”. Supremely brutal, with some more of those shouted vocals happening. It goes really well with the gutturals and some of the higher-register blackened death rasp tones. This song is one mean SOB. Yo, Werewolves – why so angry, fellas? Are you not getting enough kangaroo and koala jerky in your diet? The slam at the 1.50 section is crucial in its delivery and slams hard. The song traverses into some atmospheric harmonies before the bludgeoning blasting blasts your head into the hemisphere.

“We March” is over five minutes and the longest song. Beginning quite slow and ethereal in the musical arrangement, this is an expansive song for the band. I can see future albums having more of this. There is a bit of doom with crushing heaviness. The 2.20 moment has amazing deep vocals and a nice hoppy vibe to it. The song is drenched in atmosphere and sees the band being a tad more versatile. The galloping action at the 3.35 part is worthy of some headbanging action and is terrific. If you thought this song was going to be devoid of a blast beat, I would laugh at you. The blast erupts and takes us for a ride down the brutal lane of despair.

The title track ends the album with more bombastic brutality and face-shredding riffage. There are multiple tempo changes throughout the song, and this ends the album in pure brutality, just as it began.

Werewolves might come across as a one-trick pony to some; however, You’re Weak and You Know You’re Weak showcases the band adding elements of atmosphere, some different vocal tones, and sharpness to their sound. The production and mix are tight, clear, and concise. The band adds multiple tempo shifts throughout, and at this point I am waiting to see if this band is going to tour. Like, try and get on MDF and get on some tours, fellas. This band is a seasoned machine with their writing. I wanna see them get out of their comfort zone and tour, if that is something they want to do. Face-ripping brutality, just what Dr. Giggles ordered.

Enter Forbidden and their debut album Forbidden Evil (which just so happened to be the band’s name prior to) it wasn’t too much of a stretch, but it ultimately led to bigger things, as that album would end up skyrocketing the band to more than just another Bay Area band. That album came out around the same time as …And Justice for All, South of Heaven, and other monumental albums. They followed it up with 1990s Twisted into Form, and although it had good songs on it, I still liked the debut better. Three other full-length albums followed: Distortion in 1994, Green in 1997, and Omega Wave in 2010. The only one I remember listening to was Omega Wave, and I listened to it by accident, so I don’t remember it THAT well.

We’re in 2026 now, and lo and behold, Forbidden is back to doing what they do best. “Single Point Failure” comes thrashing along with reckless abandon, and it’s a pretty solid track. It’s no “Eyes of Glass” or “Chalice of Blood”, but that’s the past… There are moments where I can pick out bits that could have been on the latest Dark Angel. Which isn’t a bad thing; there were actually good parts on Extinction Level Event. It’s a good opener either way.

“Burning the Lungs of the Earth” is the poster child for mediocrity, though. It’s like a speed bump on a freeway; there are these ugly crooning choruses that are out of place. It sucks because the potential is there. “Divided by Zero”, on the other hand, is on fucking fire. This song is a scorcher and goes back to the early days perfectly; it does have a crooning chorus, but it’s whatever because the rest of the song makes up for it. Some riffs were dusted off for that one; I wouldn’t be surprised to hear.

“DCLXVI” is a mixed bag of tempos, and it drags a bit at the beginning, but at the five-to-six-minute mark they thrash like nobody’s business on a ridiculous solo, and then it’s like Nevermore takes over for a couple of clicks at the end of the track.

This is a bit of a long album at just over an hour, so some of the fat could have been shaved off. Particularly in “Psyclops”, and yeah, goddammit! It could’ve been a faster album. Unfortunately, this is another speed bump track. Not bad, but not good either.

“Jisei”… What. The. Fuck? Seriously, this shouldn’t be on this album.

Okay, try to redeem yourselves for that meeting that could have been an email. “Mutually Assured Dysfunction” is saved by the almost Arch Enemy “Nemesis” style intro but ultimately descends into mediocrity. Honestly, after “Jisei” I’m kind of pissed. The songs aren’t good enough to be as long as they are. I can’t believe that I’m saying this about a band whose albums I still enjoy.

“Sycophantasy” has an Anthrax vibe to it, circa Persistence of Time and State of Euphoria. If you picture Anthrax playing it, then it’s a bit better, I guess. “The Burden” is what this album has become. This song is lame as fuck. There’s a blast at the two-to-three-minute point that’s a pleasant surprise, and it finishes off with some cool effects-laden solos. Actually, no, it continues for like, three more minutes before ending. Close but no cigar.

“Sol Grave” is an alright chugger. There’s some nasty riffing going on with some scattershot drumming, so this isn’t a horrible track; there’s some cool isolated guitar before a pretty wicked solo section comes rolling in. Some tapping on the back end of the solo is pretty killer, but it doesn’t end when you think it should.

“Flower of Life” is a straightforward thrasher, and that’s what I was hoping for when I heard that Forbidden were releasing a new album. There are parts where vocalist Norman Skinner channels Warrel Dane, and that’s when they get all Nevermore-ish. The middle of the song is all quiet, and then it picks up volume near the end of the song.

I don’t know what I was thinking I was getting into with Forbidden. I remember them being better, but then that could be nostalgia for one great debut album and maybe a follow-up that isn’t what I remember at all, either. So I’m torn about my final verdict. They slip into ballad territory, and that’s what makes those speed bump tracks that don’t know what they want to be so fucking annoying.

It could be worse, and who knows; maybe ten of you will go buy this. Have a nice day.

“Harvest” is up next, and like their EP, as I mentioned, there is a Sanguisugabogg flair to their sound. Alex Butten, is the newest member, and he brings his bass skills to the fold. The rest of the band remains intact, with David Seedman on drums and guitarists Jordan Dearsley/Armando Wall delivering the goods. Sam Commens was the previous bassist and is not listed as a former member, so I am unsure if the band has 2 bass players. But that is doubtful. Back to the song. The pinch harmonics and massive, guttural, knuckle-dragging, heaving heaviness have a huge ‘Bogg influence, and Cecilia has monstrous and filthy/clogged-sewer pipe vocals on this song. The grooves, interwoven between the blasts, make this song crushing. I can imagine this song in their upcoming live set. It’s massive and heavy AF. You will whirlwind pit slam all damn day. The riffs are crazy catchy as well, with some cool guitar soloing at the end.

“Angel Guts” is another killer song with some help from Dysentery on this track. Massive pit-fueled violence with those riffs. The song has a bit of Creeping Death influence as well. So there are some hardcore/death metal-y groove elements happening. This song has sharp pinch harmonics and some The Acacia Strain tones. When that band goes from slow slam to slower and heavier slams. We got that going on here, my friends. Very creative groove moments with plenty of pure beatdown moments. Elements of slam and brutal death metal are all over this sucker. This song must be in their live set.

“Pig” has some nods to my alma mater, Internal Bleeding, with the slam structures. This song does not let up, and the drums sound outstanding. Some cool technical guitar harmonies, going up and down the fretboard, create a dizzying effect. The blasts are sharp and on point. Stop on a dime sort of thing, and once the slam comes in at the 2.49 section, there is no way neighborhoods are left standing.

“Entrophy’s Lullaby” ends the album with some show clip, with atmospherics and soft bass guitar pluckings. The song breaks into a slow and heavy instrumental that is pretty cool, and then that is the end.

The Art of Suffering is one of the very best brutal and heavy slammy death metal releases for 2026. This is exactly the debut album Algor Mortis needed to release, as they are in a sea of oversaturation with this style of metal. The band separates themselves by creating tempo shifts and catchy riffs – which are fun, and carry on for a bit, to embed in your brain. The slams are creative and will make crowds move! Cecilia’s strong vocal performance, attached to a wicked production, are also killer elements.

The album cover has a lot going on, though, but you can make out screaming and tortured souls adorning the cover. Get this album Now!!!!!!!

For a while there, in the mid 00s, Sweden’s The Duskfall (formed by Gates of Ishtar’s Mikael Sandorf, after they broke up) were considered one of the heirs apparent to In Flames as they entered their sucky commercial phase with albums like Reroute to Remain, A Soundtrack to Your Escape, Come Clarity, and A Sense of Purpose.

The Duskfall‘s first 2 albums, Frailty and Source (which I reviewed for digitalmetal.com back in the day), as well as their third album, Lifetime Supply of Guilt, filled the void nicely and brought some energy and respect (and even some long-missing heaviness) back to the genre of Swedish melodic death metal, even if it was still clichéd and predictable. Heck, they even had a song, “Shoot It In”, featured on the 2007 hit video game, The Darkness.

The band split up in 2008 (a few Gates of Ishtar and The Duskfall members went on to form the death ‘n’ roll act Helltrain) after releasing The Dying Wonders of the World, but briefly reformed in 2014 to release Where the Tree Stands Dead, and then went on an extended hiatus after.

So 12 years later, the band is back (again), with their 6th album, and with a line-up that’s largely new since 2014 and the original days, with Sandorf being the lone truly original member. As well as guitars, he takes over vocals, with a gruff growl, a welcome change from Magnus Klavborn, who performed on Where the Tree Stands Dead and I never really liked, as he used pretty bad clean vocals and a sneering, higher-register rasp after replacing longtime vocalist Kai Jaakkola (the album did have some killer riffs though). But he has assembled a cast of players and veterans (largely from prog rock act Psykonaut) who are able to lock into a classic NWSDM like it was 2002- 2007 all over again.

While certainly falling into all the pitfalls of the Swedish melodic death metal formula, as he did on his earlier albums, Sandorf has still locked into a tried-and-true sound that is familiar and energetic, just like the first few The Duskfall albums, and it’s just as enjoyable and formulaic as it was back then.

A big, modern production (from drummer Sebastian Lindgren) and strong songwriting that unashamedly pulls from all the 90s/00s Gothenburg influences make the album an enjoyable throwback. Whether it’s faster, more galloping, hook-filled tracks like the opener “Entomb My Shadows”, “The Everlasting Shadows”, “Nights at the Graves” and snarling “Peacemaker”, or stern but melodic, catchy stompers like “As Our Days Are Dying”, “World of Lies”, chunky “Golem” and my personal favorites, “Legion” and “Kneedeep in the Grave”. It’s all really well done, incredibly catchy (but still hefty), and shows Sandorf’s and co.’s experience in the genre and commitment to that sound 20 years later.

A damn solid effort and comeback; let’s hope Sandorf’s other recently announced comeback in Gates of Isthtar next year is as successful and enjoyable.

Honestly, that’s about all I know about them. Metal Archives is dry as fuck, therefore no help at all and the press kit was a bit slim, other than to tell me that some of the members played in a band called Toadeater, which doesn’t help me at all because I’ve never heard of them either.

Fortunately for everyone involved, In Selbernin Sprachen is a goddamn punch in the spleen. Raw? Oh hell yeah, this is raw as it gets without being four people in a basement with a four-track, and that’s only because the production is fucking spectacular, as is the exquisite cover art.

It’s the music that brings us together today, however. Straight out of the gate, there’s a sublime rumble as “Niebo I Ziemia” comes on with light keyboards and then… BOOM! With a roar, the blast kicks in, and immediately you’re swept up in the maelstrom; a volatile mix of Istapp and Blackbraid with some Lamp of Murmuur elegance. But this is a Raw Black Metal assault; where do these guys get off making a melodic, atmospheric… Raw Black Metal album? Urzikel don’t need your fucking permission! There’s a pervasive riff that propels the track forward at sonic speed, and even when the band is thrashing along in between vicious blasting, that main riff is there, ripping a hole in the fabric of time.

“Himmlischer Funke” is up next and it’s just as relentless, but here we get some raging female vocals that are absolutely crushing. There’s also oodles of emotion in this track, and that feeling leaks into the next track “Heiliger Kreis”, which is about as close to DSBM as Urzikel get. The first half of the song is, indeed, a bit on the depressing side of the coin. There’s this killer, reverb-laden riff that twists on itself while the blasts are swirling like a swarm of murder hornets. I get those Istapp vibes again and they’re totally welcome.

“Król Duch” blazes a fiery trail over a nightmare hellscape. The shouted vocals add a primal level to the music. Urzikel has created a fucking masterpiece, raw yet fully fleshed out. In Silbernen Sprachen is so good that it might be making me rethink my Year End List.

I cannot urge you enough to go get this angry sonofabitch. If you love Istapp and Endstille, hell, even Mystic Circle, then Urzikel is the drug you’ve been searching for.

But occasionally, we get sent a nice personal email or note from a small band simply asking for a review — maybe they have read the site or maybe not. Such is the case with Portugal’s Galväo, a duo composed of Pedro Pires (all instruments) and Sérgio Ramo (Vocals), both of whom are or were in a number of Portuguese bands over the years.

They have been productive since 2021, with 4 EPs and a full-length album to their name, but this is my first exposure to them, and it’s a pretty solid first exposure.

Uma Visão Derradeira  (A Final Vision) is 3 songs in 20 minutes of modern atmospheric/melodic black metal with a somber undertone. The material here would be right at home on Tradegy Productions out of Chile (Winds of Tragedy, My Dearest Wound, etc.). It’s a bit dissonant, a bit melodic, and a bit depressive.

The three songs are all solid, with the final two standing out a little more from the more consistently dissonant opener “Ruína e Perdição”, which has a certain Deathspell Omega vibe. The second and third (“Rumo ao Abismo”) inject a little more variety and some solid tremolo-picked riffs into the dissonance, for example, about 5 minutes into “Oferendas Fatais” or at the start of “Rumo ao Abismo”, resulting in an enjoyable but layered 20 minutes of modern black metal.

Last year’s Close to Complete Darkness showed that the duo of Jérôme Blandino and Max Lobier were still capable of delivering a serious beatdown.

But then this 8-song, 35-minute effort was over, and I found myself checking to see if this was the right Morgue, or if there had been any significant lineup changes; there were not, and this was the right Morgue. It was, and there isn’t, and that makes this so disappointing.

It appears the duo has decided to branch out, develop, evolve, or whatever, as Herald the Dawn is a shell of what made Morgue so fuckin bludgeoning and brutal for their career up to this point, clean singing and all, but what we have is a tangible reining in of the brutality in favor of a more controlled, almost industrial, blackened sound.

A lighter guitar tone, distant rasped vocals, and a focus on more plodding, mid-paced riffs, with only a few instances of the band’s prior bludgeoning sound arising here or there. I get shades of Napalm Death’s shift on Fear Emptiness Despair, though not quite as full-on industrial or jarring, and notes of Anaal Nathrakh‘s more tame moments. Sound great on paper, but it’s not, I’m afraid.

It starts fairly promisingly enough with the opener “Vortex of Darkness”, where I am good with the moody first few bars to set a tone, then a blast beat, but then the song descends into a “Vortex of dullness”, with more black metal-based riffs, strange drum patterns, and echoey, distant howls. And then the rest of the album does it again for 7 more songs.

A few moments do briefly recall the band’s all-out savagery, but they are short-lived, like the opening moments of “To the Bitter End”, “The Last Supper,” or “The Abyss I Know”, where I’m hopeful the opener was an anomaly, but they both soon revert to this stammering, grooving industrial gait, and even when it does try to get a little more brutal later on, it’s just flat and forgetful.

And I hate to say it, but flat and forgetful is how Herald the Dawn hit me as a whole. The few moments of savagery are short-lived and just tease before the songs devolve into clinical, industrialish black metal. They try to be technical and dissonant at times (“Obedient to No Will”, “The Last Supper”, the downright terrible “Cursed Be”), but instead it comes across as sloppy and out of sync. The title track and closer “The Deserted Garden of Eden” (which could be a late era Satyricon song at times) are barely recognizable as the Morgue I know and love.

Sorry, Morgue, I love you guys, but this is a swing and a miss, and I hope it’s just a phase that’s out of your system now.

Slay | Kill | Erase is the band’s fourth album and, at 73 minutes, is pretty much the length of all their other albums; you know it’s time to set some time aside to listen to this. The band consists of Uwe Void -Bass, Stuart West – Guitars, Kat Shevil Gillham – Vocals, Markus Ströhlein -Drums, Tobias Utz -Guitars, and Daniel Ringl Guitars. If you were a fan of the band’s previous material, then no doubt you will enjoy their latest slab of crushing heaviness.

The title track starts things off with a brooding, atmospheric, slow-burning march. You can tell this is going to be good. The music slowly starts to seep in, and once it fully hits around the two-minute mark, the heaviness will weigh you down and smother you to death. The guitar tone is unreal. It’s always been crushing, but it’s just extra on here. Kat is belting out vocals and using her more guttural tone, and combined with the heaviness, this is pure doom/death. Some cool guitar harmonies start creeping in, and the bass guitar is pretty darn heavy on this as well. You have to listen to this album with a proper stereo system with a subwoofer. It shook my house and alarmed my neighbors. The song picks up the pace ever so slightly, getting a bit hoppy, towards the end, before more of the sloth-like, almost funeral doom enters into the picture. Kat’s cleans enter towards the end of the song. Her cleans have been some of my favorite in doom/death metal for quite a number of years now. They are somewhat haunting, as well as adding an emotive quality to them. Killer opening song.

“Rise of Resistance” was one of the singles released prior to the album. Starting with an isolated, far-off guitar, before everything hits you like a ton of bricks around the minute marker. The haunting guitar harmonies in the background while the bludgeoning attack rolls forward with Kat leading the charge with her deep, but well-enunciated vocals. This song is deliberate, crushing, and atmospheric. Kat’s cleans at the 2.41 marker sent shivers down my spine and there is a bit of a Messiah Marcolin (ex-Candlemass), vibe going on with her cleans. The song clobbers you down with emotion, and I can see a castle in the distance. I am sitting near a small wooden bridge with the dew-scented meadows. It is lightly raining with an overcast sky. The castle has clouds around it, surrounded by a moat, and it calms me while I am swilling some dark ale in a hellaciously large Bavarian Beerstein. If this does not conjure up images of Thronehammer’s music, then I am lost. Their music always takes me back to Medieval lands and times. I love it.

“Dethroned” is another killer song with guitar harmonies starting things up and the music hitting at the perfect time. If this song is played live, at these cues the spotlights need to shine. The ‘ahhhhhh’ vocals start in and add the perfect backdrop, as rather than getting into her gutturals, starts her clean tones, then right into the gutturals. The deeper registers hammer home viciousness and anger. It’s all enveloped in a monstrously heavy and catchy rhythm section. Although slow, the music is so dense, through the castle fog, as the cleans come back into the fold. Come to think of it, this may be the most emotive Thronehammer album yet. When music conjures up those internal feelings from within, it makes that band extra special for me. There are plenty of headbanging moments as well.

So the first seven songs are all vocalized by Kat. For the last song, “Onwards to Oblivion”, their friend Max lends the pipes throughout the song. The vocals are more rooted in traditional doom metal, such as older Candlemass/Solitude Aeturnus/Solstice (UK). The music, while heavy, is a little less doom/death and more in line with the vocal tones. Max has a great set of pipes, and this is a terrific song, drenched in atmosphere and despair. Some very cool drumming, some polyrhythms, faster-paced moments, and a little blast all starting around the seven-minute mark. The song trails off, as softly as it began.

Slay | Kill | Erase is an amazing album from Thronehammer. It’s my favorite, in fact, with the variety of doom/death bludgeoning moments alongside their softer, more atmospheric and emotive moments. The band is at the top of their game, and as far as this genre goes, they are one of the best, for sure. Killer and no filler!!

Well, after being out a month or so, I randomly heard a song on a Spotify playlist, and it piqued my interest enough to check out the whole album — their 6th, and holy fuck, this is killer stuff.

While mired in the more recent symphonic/blackened deathcore explosion, only a few  recent OG, plain old deathcore releases have got me going: Whitechapel’s return-to-form album from last year, Larcenia Roe‘s gnarly 2025 effort Extraction, and Crown Magnetar‘s bruising latest album from earlier this year, and the new Rev3rent (album I’m sure the upcoming Suicide Silence will rule too), and if you too enjoyed those releases, Liberation Front should be right up your alley. Heck, I’d venture to say I might even put this slightly above Crown Magnetar‘s The Hollowing of Godflesh!

Liberation Front is tangibly, palpably, and murderously bludgeoning. Every note and bellow from frontman Dane Evans (who is every bit as vocally imposing as Phil Bozeman and Dan Tucker) absolutely seethes with rage against animal cruelty, meat-related cruelty, and other anti-religious, sociopolitical, and vegan hot topics.

Straight from the opener “Meat the Humans”, it’s fucking go time with some of the heaviest pure deathcore I’ve heard in a while.  And not the sort of synthetically heavy, over-processed, super downtuned, over-the-top heavy like, say, Tsalmaveth PA or Nitheful (whom I like); this is still a physically organic, menacing, disturbing, make you grind your teeth, get ready to fucking fight heavy.

Tracks like “Nail Mary”, “Torture Porn”, “Eyestalk Ablations”, or the disgusting lope “Limb From Lamb” are ultra heavy deathcore with ample blast beats hammering double bass grooves (“Calf Slicer”, “Life Among the Septics”, “You Know The Drill” for example), and of course, plenty of super devastating breakdowns.

And in giving the 5 prior albums a cursory listen, it’s clear this is by far their heaviest, nastiest effort, as only Director’s Cuts comes close, even the album after that, Everybody is a Murderer, isn’t close, seeming to take a step back from Director’s Cuts. And they dropped any metalcore stylings, shouted vocals and such from their earlier work. Liberation Front is simply fucking brutal.

A few subtle keyboards do pop up here and there in “Nail Mary”, “Eyestalk Ablations”, “Calf Slicer”, “Terrorfire”, “You Know The Drill”, and the album closer “The World is a Slaughterhouse,” which also brings some surprising emotionality to the otherwise fucking pummeling material that has me wondering how and why the band suddenly got this brutal and truly upped their savagery between Everybody is a Murderer and Liberation Front.

Emperor ended… and Enslaved have carried on for 17 full-length albums (not including Eps, split albums or collections). They’re like a Black Metal factory at this point, staying true to the sound they’ve pioneered since 1994.

Their last album, Heimdal came out in 2023 and was covered by yours truly in these hallowed pages. I raved about that album like a dog with a new toy; now, three years later, here is a brand new album called Mið, and it’s fucking stellar.

Where Heimdal moved with the tempest of the waves, Mið seems to deal with the mystery of the forest and more of a spiritual path. Opening track “Non-Being” is a solemn instrumental that sets the tone of the album. The stillness is broken when “I am Ice (featuring Johan Sara Jr.)” comes bursting from the speakers, a literal avalanche of brutality that harkens back to such albums as Eld, Ruun and In Times. That’s to name just three, but if you’re familiar with the band’s timeless sound, you’ll be able to pick up on sounds from all over their catalog. It’s fierce and not in a bullshit Beyoncé way; this is elemental fury pulled up from the bowels of the Earth.

“Solar Will” is up next and it’s a scorcher (pun not intended). It’s sort of a Black ‘n’ Roll track that just bulldozes itself into your consciousness. Enslaved is not fucking around on Mið, proving they are still scene leaders in the Black Metal community.

“Mountain” comes on like the sun rising over the foothills; it’s slow and magnificent. The gargantuan riffs are powerful as the very stone of the earth. Slow and meandering one second; like a trickle of winter run-off. At around 2:45, an avalanche comes raging down the valleys and crevasses, slow and punishing until the final moments of the song when it continues to pick up speed.

“Spirit Helper (featuring Kevin Kickingwoman)” is a heavy, Native American-fueled powerhouse. Kevin Kickingwoman’s chanting is a revelation against the abrasive Black Metal fury. This is a truly revolutionary song and one of the strongest on Mið. “Parting” rises on swelling keys. Heartbreaking solemnity lasts until the 3:43 point, where it heavies up and gets downright depressing. “Tales of Trees” is a burly, short track. With a Ruun-ish chorus and a pulsing beat, this is prime Enslaved glory. Soaring vocals and fantastic Norwegian riffs… could you ask for anything more?

“I Miðju” is the final throes of this beast. A brutal mix of growling and clean vocals, as I said… PRIME Enslaved. The second half of the song picks up a sick as fuck Thrash beat and some sweet soloing. It’s like fighting a Yeti and knowing you’re going to get your ass beat but it doesn’t matter because the Yeti sounds badass while you’re dying.

Mið is a massive, crater-sized album. It sounds amazing thanks to the awesome production, and the artwork is suitably mysterious. It will benefit you greatly to go get this slice of Norwegian Black Metal, row your boat to the nearest record store now!

But two releases will sure make the year much better: the 2nd effort from symphonic black metalers Hyperion (it’s fantastic), and this, the 4th album, first on a label, for the Long Island progressive/melodic death metal act Iapetus (a Titan in Greek mythology and the third-largest moon of Saturn).

Consisting of Matthew Cerami (Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Arrangements) and Jordan Navarro (Guitars, Keys, Drum Arrangements). They are aided by a host of guests and session folks, namely Brody Taylor Smith on drums and Eluveitie‘s Fabienne Erni providing a large heaping of gorgeous female vocals.

A concept album, The Mother Void, is sublime. I’m reminded of Kardashev’s Alunea from last year, as it’s an utterly brilliant and enthralling album of ambitious, progressive, melodic, emotional metal that covers the spectrum of extreme metal, so, like Kardashev, fans of Black Crown Initiate, Dessiderium, Opeth, Annihilus Mundi, Ne Obliviscaris (whose Benjamin Baret lends a solo on “TON”), Rivers of Nihil, etc., take heed.

Cerami lacks Mark Garrett’s range, but Erni provides the clean, gorgeous contrast to Cerami’s harsh shouts and screams beautifully, elevating every song (I knew from the moment the intro “Patruition” delivered a Gladiator/walking through fields of wheat type moment; I was hooked).

But it’s musically where Iapetus shines. If the title track doesn’t blow you away at the album’s onset, go back to eating crayons. It’s utterly magnificent with every note, chord progression, bridge, transition, and vocal interchange delivered absolutely perfectly, with a knee-wilting climax.

Now, at 70 minutes and 4 of the 7 songs clocking in well over 10 minutes, get some good headphones and strap in for a lengthy but enthralling, lavish journey. But it’s soooo worth it: the 17-minute “Aniara” sees Erni making black metal blast beats simply gorgeous, and the transitions at 12:39 and 14:39 are stunning too. The 12 Minute “Red Giant” leans hard into galloping melodic death metal, but is drenched in gorgeous female vocals and then has a wondrously somber last act.

The album’s 18-minute centerpiece, “TON”, is almost an album in itself. From its epic opening blast beat and growl, its extended narrative extending mid-section, subsequent Gojira-like stomps and Erni’s dramatic appearance to its expected, epic climax, it’s simply perfect, and I’d buy it if it were a 1-song EP.  Erni and Cerami make the acoustic closer “The World Be Undone” a perfect, somber end note for the story’s conclusion

The Jens Bogren mix is lush and clear, as you’d expect, making every note dance and slice with an airy but hefty clarity, as an album this ambitious and layered should sound.

It’s going to take a lot to unseat Fires In the Distance‘s Circadian Promise as my AOTY, but fuck, this (and the new Annihilus Mundi) is going to make it close.

“Himsa” is a beautiful instrumental lead by Klara Bachmair’s haunting violin. This goes into “Kilakas Tongue”, as the music gets louder and louder in the mix. Oliver König (bass), Phillip Thienger (keyboards/guitar), David Kempf (drums), and Chris S (guitars), all join in on the fray, with the violin being played as well as keys. The pagan influence, with the various vocal tones and musical arrangements, is all played with much emotion. There is beauty in brutality with Firtan. And with lyrics: Breathing to commit sin, Loving to betray, Prevailing to give in, All hail isine and decay, the band is committed to make the listener think a little when reading the lyrics. Hence, the band has a greater punch to their lyrics, for more of the masses in the extreme metal scene.

“Ambrosia” is beautifully arranged, and with an early pinch harmonic scorching its way into our ears, I immediately smile. An intense gallop with the violin being prominent in the mix and adding that extra layer of black metal goth inspired heaviness. The harsh vocals give way to chanting, then the song gets into faster territory. The harsh vocals do have elements of death metal to them, which, goth-inspired, hit brutally perfect. The song has a variety of tempo shifts, ranging from brutality to atmospherics. The ending part of the track has a killer groove, and then the chanting returns, with the squealing violin entering in even more. Whew….I gotta catch my breath….give me a second… There is a lot going on with Firtan, on this album, with it being more expansive…a lot to take in. Ok ready..

“Ascension” is a seven minute number, beginning with more violins and then a plodding, doomy heaviness with that violin torching your soul. Brooding, depressive, and haunting. This is a seven-minute opening song, before the black metal vocals cut into the mix. The guitar riffing, I must point out, is pretty damn good and creative. The song slows down into ethereal atmospherics before the fast section erupts. It’s a bit jarring. It’s fast-paced, but not blasting. It’s pretty chaotic, as well as hypnotic, and the pagan vocals, at the five-minute mark, are most excellent.

“The Hierophant Way” at close to twelve minutes has so much going on, with the mid-paced section, than faster passages equipped with keys and violin. It’s breathtaking and moody. The song settles into a groove passage that hops about with the pagan vocals. Quite emotional, I must add. The song slows to an acoustic moment which is close to classical music, and guest vocalist, James Dorton (Black Crown Initiate/The Faceless/Ne Obliviscaris), lays down some deep guttural vocals, and this moment is terrific. The song ends beautifully and takes us into the “Shadows of a Dawn Unborn”, closing out the album. A song designed to please classical music fans with saxophones, beautiful female vocals, and an all around beautifully constructed pagan piece to bring this album to a close. Please make note there are various editions, one of which has a cover of Bathory’s “Man of Iron” from the Blood on Ice album. What a perfect ending, as the cover is an amazing rendition of that song.

Helios is one helluva an album by Firtan. Their most expansive one thus far and pushing their creative boundaries beyond what I though possible. At times it can be exhausting with the barrage of sounds and noises. There is so much quality going on pushesd this is in fact a most excellent album,thought requires repeated listens to fully absorb the material. Forward-thinking and most excellent.

There’s a certain type of magic that a perfect Black Metal album has; it comes after years of being scene leaders since 2004 and on their 8th full-length (that’s not including the vast catalog of Eps and singles; etc.) They’ve gained a fan in me;I have never really listened to them before except for maybe the odd song, so this is the first real time for me.

Six songs in 48:25 minutes, and each cut draws oceans of blood, starting with the title track. “Estuary” rises out of the darkness slowly at first, then come the blast beats; commanding and strident. A brief Thrash bit and it’s off to the races. As far as comparisons go, I get a huge Norwegian influence right away. But these guys are from beautiful Olympia, Washington; far from Norway.

Next up is “Knights of Tiamat” and it’s a brutal tempest right out of the gate of Babylon… Huge sound, and when the stomping turns to blasting, it’s fucking awesome. Shit gets nasty mid-track when they dial up the atmosphere to eleven; this will be the part of the show where the first half of the smoke machine budget will go. There might be fire columns as well.

This album looks and sounds amazing. Wolves in the Throne Room knows what they’re doing at this point in their career. USB , especially that made in the Pacific Northwest, has this otherworldly feeling to it. Estuary has a sense of foreboding to it, like at any second a Wendigo is going to materialize in your room. The blast is when the beast attacks and you know you’re fucked.

“Foretold in Reflections” has a cryptic, miasmatic, slow-burn method to its conqueror worm aspect. It’s also 9:54 minutes long and, to be honest, these aren’t short songs. But, good news! They don’t overstay their welcome. Yes, it’s almost 10 minutes long, but it doesn’t feel like that when you’re listening to it. “The Orca Cliffs” is next up and it’s a ripper right from the start, but then it becomes something otherworldly. Thrashing drums beat out a psychotic rhythm before it slows down at the 2:30 mark. Wolves in the Throne Room is a master of atmosphere, and this track displays that perfectly.

The last two tracks, “Ghosts Among the Obelisks” and “Wretched Spirits, Land of the Light”, are blistering attacks. The former starts out with some crazy effects-ladenguitar riding this ridiculous groove and some hellish vocals from Nathan Weaver. When the blast kicks in and the whirlwind picks you up and throws you around like garbage over a fence, this is such a vicious song, and it doesn’t relent for one second. The latter is the most Emperor-sounding song on Estuary. Especially Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk era. There are huge, stab-the-sky moments where you can feel the elements gather around your soul. It’s a huge “With Strength I Burn” section that burns with ethereal wrath and keeps the track going at the 4:22 minute point it slows down to a more Covenant,  In Times Before the Light (1997) vibe to it.

At the end of the day, Wolves in the Throne Room has created a gorgeous yet brutal album. I cannot recommend Estuary enough. The combination of lush, beautiful keys against utter brutal darkness is magnificent to hear. In a year that’s already seen a slew of stellar releases, Wolves in the Throne Room has unleashed a monster, and it would do you well to go get Estuary now.

The intro is a short ditty of an acoustic guitar piece that is pleasant to these ears, which “Turned into Dust” then brings the death metal to the pedal. The opening riffing and sound remind me of Morbid Angel from their Covenant album, and it sounds excellent. Jay brings his strong vocal influence of Dutch death metal back into the fold with nods to Pestilence/Aspyhx. Amazing. Right before the two-minute marker, the blast takes center stage and will remind you of the blasting Mike Smith was doing on the Suffocation Breeding the Spawn album. I actually mentioned this to Mick not too long ago, and he said that’s his favorite Suffocation album; so, there ya go, folks. Around the 3.30 marker a plethora of guitar solos scorch our pants right off us and then Boom, right into the vintage Suffo blast beats. This is a super strong song with terrific guitar riffing as well as that bass guitar rearing its ugly head too.

The title track has an atmospheric blend to open things up. Alan strumming away on the bass guitar and having it isolated is just excellent. Light guitars in the background do not overpower the bass; they allow the bass to shine in the mix. Once that 1.38 marker hits, though, be prepared. Right into a monstrous blast beat, and it’s absolutely terrific as Mr. Malone shows off his drumming skills. This really takes me back to 1993, with the sound and the Suffocation influence is peak at this point, with Zealot Cult putting their own stamp of brutality on it as well. I do enjoy the band tossing in guitar solos as well, and there are plenty of those on here. You don’t hear as many guitar solos in brutal death metal anymore. I attribute this to the band being rooted in the old-school approach, and I respect that. For instance, if you have the talent to pull off a guitar solo, why not toss it in on an album?! I appreciate that sort of thing.

“Usurper” begins with this double pounding beat that is captivating in its heaviness and catchiness. The song soon goes into the full-velocity blasting hemisphere and does a good job of rearranging your jaw for ya. This is one catchy song!! Excellent guitar harmonies and vocals help this song reach top-shelf status. “Nothing But Hate” is the longest song at close to six and a half minutes. Starting with a blast and then slows down with some spoken-word moments, while the drum rolls are going on in the background. Pretty cool. The mid-paced moments are super heavy, and I caught a pinch harmonic or two. The song ends fairly brutally, and then a soft acoustic piece ends the album, just as it began.

Psalms of Filth is one of the purest death metal albums to be released in 2026. It takes the old and mixes it in with the new. After being away for so long, this is the album Zealot Cult needed to release to remain relevant in the scene. This is brutal, catchy, classic, and all-rounded out in a nice warm production. You can tell a lot of effort went into writing and recording this album. Killer release!

I looked for all sorts of quotes about change when preparing to write this review. From Benjamin Disraeli to Heraclitus, but eventually settled on tech guru Robert Scoble, as the addition of inconvenience and opportunity seemed pretty apt for the 5th album from Germany’s Mental Cruelty.

The inconvenience? The band is no longer deathcore.

The opportunity? There is a whole new fanbase available.

If you heard the band’s 4th album, 2023’s Zwielicht, you already knew this was a very different-sounding band from the band’s debut, Purgaturium, as the band leaned hard into the ‘blackened’ element of blackened deathcore, but songs like “Symphony of a Dying Star” teased something more, something even more black metal-based and epic.

And now on Echoes of a Forlorn Land, the transformation into a full-on symphonic black metal band is complete.

Of course, if you follow the band and have heard the first three singles, “Helheim”, “Raise the Raven Banner”, and “Frost”, you were already clued in to the style shift, and of course the Viking/Nordic themes the album and songs were taking on.

But what you might not be ready for is how fucking good the band is at this new style and how fucking great the rest of the album is. Basically, it’s a whole album of songs like “Symphony of a Dying Star” (minus the breakdowns).

Whereas Zweilicht has about a 50/50 split between black metal and Lorna Shore -ish deathcore, with massive breakdowns and super deep guttural squeals, growls, and snorts, Echoes is a solid 95-99% melodic/symphonic black metal melodic death metal affair. Vocalist Lukas Nikolia has a 100% black metal/ melodic death metal rasp, and the riffs here are riffs you would hear on a Dark Funeral, Necrophobic, modern Hypocrisy, or even Anaal Nathrakh album. Then throw in the Viking gloss (in the riffs and the lyrics), including traditional Viking instruments like the Tagelharpa /Kravik lyre (which the band learned how to play); you can also get some Mithotyn and Thryfing moments to top it off the affair.

After the intro, “Fenrir” comes blasting out of the gates, with searing black metal riffs that would fit on any recent Dark Funeral album, then “Blood For Blood” ups the ante even more with utterly furious riffs that could have come from Anaal Nathrakh’s Eschaton.

The back third of the album might be even better. There’s the biblical/angelic detour of “Cry of Batariel” (one of the original 22 angels cast out of heaven), an absolute scorcher of a track that sees the symphonic elements cranked up to 11. Then there is the stunning end cap, “Flight of the Valkyries”, where, as you’d expect based on the song title, choral arrangements and orchestral arrangements come together over a simply stunning array of riffs, and even a stomping chorus/riff that would make Johan Hegg of Amon Amarth proud. It’s easily as good as “Symphony of a Dying Star”, still one of my favorite songs of the last few years.

I admit initially the first singles didn’t do much for me, until I got the promo and just embraced the album as a whole and fully realized there would be no deathcore here, and took the album for what it is; fucking fantastic. And when countless bands are leaning into the Lorna Shore sound (including Mental Cruelty themselves for 2 albums), I’m impressed by the fact that Mental Cruelty leaned away, and decided to forge a different path for this album. Now I’m just curious if they stick with the sound and Viking motifs for the next one.

So it’s no surprise that this 6-song, 22-minute EP has some expected God Dethroned influence in its melodic but gritty death/black metal. But Sattler’s production makes it a little different, as here the guitar tone has a much more Stockholm/Swedish buzz. So basically imagine God Dethroned songs and vocals with a beefy, buzzsaw production. So then yeah, it’s pretty good.

Starting with the classic Stockholm center of “Unholy Return”, through the unmistakably God Dethroned-sounding title track and ending with the outro, “Trapped in a Dark Forest”, the EP delivers a solid mix of blistering black/death metal and chunky Swedish grooves. I can also hear some Bolt Thrower and Hail of Bullets in tracks like “Ghost Warriors” and “We Drink the Blood”, where the trundling riffs let the killer guitar tone really shine and deliver war-mongering, blood-pumping goodness.

After hearing this EP, I will be going back to check out the 2022 self-titled debut album, as well as looking forward to the next full-length album, as this hits all of the death metal sweet spots for me, and will for you too.

Hardiesse (‘boldness, bravery’) is a duo consisting of Wynter on bass and vocals (Wÿntër Ärvn, Woest, ex-Aorlhac), and Hyver on guitar and vocals (Grylle, Véhémence, Hanternoz, Hyver, Tour d’Ivoire, Paydretz), so I had to check it out, and it was everything you’d expect it to be and what I hoped it would be.

Tristesse Vespérale is 5 songs in 22 minutes of regal, medieval French black metal that you would think would come from this duo. It’s triumphantly melodic and littered with tremolo-picked, heradic riffs, along with howls and chants. It skips the more atmospheric medieval instrumentation and interludes that some of their other projects deliver, and just focuses on rousing, shrill, jangly, shimmering riffs.

In particular, the rousing march of opener “Audace” and the ending trio of “Remparts”, “Soupirs” and “Sentinelles” really get your medieval black metal on and ready to charge the English at Agincourt. The vocals vary between an expected black metal rasp and a gruffer bellow, all adding to the overall mood. That said, this is less shimmery armor and armies of waving banners, but more like the battles in movies like Henry V or The Last Duel; more grimy, battered, and close-quarters combat, but it still has a heroic aura.

I’ll definitely be looking forward to an upcoming full-length, as this is an excellent teaser of the epic battles to come.

“Death Toll Horror” starts with a synth opening sequence that soon gets into the doomy heaviness that is Wharflurch. Myk Colby is the main man on guitars/vocals and synths, with John Mamo on drums and also vocals, and Cary Smith on bass. But the band now consists of Myk and an entirely new line-up: Stef Wetzel on bass, Jonathan Griffin on drums, and Jerrod Miller on vox. Regardless, this opening song has the monster heaviness we are used to from the band. The hoppy moment at the 90-second mark is especially fun. We get pinch harmonics to boot before the doom hits around the 2.40 section. Sludgy, cavernous, and heavy, just like the Florida swamps, from which the band rises. This doomy moment continues until the end of the song and is depressive and immersive in its heaviness.

“Headless God” is such a great song title. The brooding synths get louder until the music bashes and smashes you in the face, and it hits like dISEMBOWELMENT with the guitar tones and abruptly shifts to the faster moments. The pained and anguished growls are exceptional, as are the bendy guitar riffs. Pinch harmonics are sharp and will slice your body right in half. Galloping death metal madness incites circle pits nationwide. The song slows down and really hones in on that dISEMBOWELMENT influence. A guitar solo, drenched in funeral doom, enters the picture as this song then gets into a slow, grinding heaviness, then back into the speed. One of the very best songs the band has written.

“Revelations ov the Spore Lords” is so damn heavy it moves like a lumbering Lovecraftian entity that is hundreds of feet tall. The song gets into faster territory with squealing guitars and lots of killer cavernous vocal elements. There are some spoken-word vocal moments over the faster parts that are pretty cool. The song slows down and gets slower, heavier, and brooding. This song is drenched in early 90s doom/death metal and another winner of a song.

“Mycodeath and Rebirth / Awakening the Emissary” ends the album at eight and a half minutes and is more instrumental than anything else. There are spoken-word moments, and a very spacey new age feel with the synths. It’s actually a very interesting way to end the album but also coincides nicely with the Wharflurch Presents… Swamp Synth, release I mentioned above.

Mycodeath and Rebirth in the Outer Clusters is a great album by Wharflurch, who has carved out a nice little niche in the metal community. They are pretty original, and the synths add a spacey/horror infused atmosphere to their sound. It’s more expansive than one would imagine. The band is always on pace with creating super colorful designs on all their releases, as they have a bunch EPs and singles too. Plaster that stuff on merch and they will sell like hotcakes. Get this album; it’s original, heavy, and fun to listen to.

For the new album, original guitarist Jakob Nyholm has rejoined the fray, joining Scott Jensen (vocals), Martin K. Sørensen (guitar), Bastian Thusgaard (drums), and Bjørn Jensen (bass), all members since the band’s formation in 2003 (except Thusgaard, who joined in 2013).

I don’t know if the band broke up, went on hiatus, or just didn’t feel like releasing anything for 7 years, but regardless, they are back, and the sound is the same: beefy, mostly mid-paced Danish death metal.

Famed producer Tue Madsen (The Haunted, Aborted, Baest, Meshuggah, etc.) was brought in to produce, as he did on The Suffering and Rejoice in Vengeance, so the album sounds massive and …..Danish? That is to say, they still sound like a pulverizing mix of Illdisposed and, say, NYDM like Internal Bleeding, etc. And the band appears to have returned to their earlier sound, with the melody from Into the Depths of Veracity largely gone.

The formula hasn’t changed otherwise. Don’t expect anything different from the band’s prior 5 albums: big, beefy death metal that’s generally rooted in lumbering grooves, with a few blasts scattered around. And it’s still these grooves where Dawn of Demise hits the hardest and gets your neck snapping: “Revive Your Demise,” the absolutely head-bobbing duo of “Ominous” and  “The Essence of Expirtation,” as well as the damn catchy “The Immoral”, “Downcast” (that opening groove is *chefs kiss*), slower, trundling “Dissociation”, “Onset of Iniquities”, “Sense Of Superiority”—heck, let’s just say all of ’em; just simple, meaty, enjoyable grooving death metal goodness, just like their last 5 albums.

I’ve been holding my breath for this album, and rather than turn blue for my obsession, I purposely avoided any social media surrounding the release. That way I didn’t spoil it for myself. It worked out too.

Mother of Graves goes deep on The Light that Keeps Us. I thought The Periapt of Absence was a depressing album… Jesus Christ on a bicycle, I could actually feel a palpable sorrow overtake my body during my time with The Light that Keeps Us.

Going full-blown Doom wasn’t too difficult for these guys. There’s a thick miasma of My Dying Bride, Candlemass, and Cathedral that oozes from the speakers right away with “Wingless Soul”, an eight-minute deep dive into the depths of sorrow. The music is heavy as fuck, and the weight of the subject matter is palpable. The perfect opener for this album.

“Through the Pale Shade” is next, and the My Dying Bride influences keep coming out. I’m really getting AOTY vibes, but I don’t want to be premature. There are no fast-paced songs on The Light that Keeps Us. The Periapt of Absence had at least a few fast bits, but here there are none. Mother of Graves has fully embraced the Doom, and I’m all in on that shit.

The Light that Keeps Us looks and sounds phenomenal. A gargantuan amount of love was poured into this monster, and it shows in every note. The title track starts out with an isolated drum before the guitars start making themselves known. It picks up a little speed, sort of a Death Rock ‘ n’ Roll thing, and that main riff is a thing of beauty. I literally felt like my heart was going to break while listening to this album. It has this sense of emotion I haven’t heard since The Angel and the Dark River or even “The Sexuality of Bereavement”.

As the album soldiers on, “Eventide Angel” is such a good song; it’s got power in the riffs that other Doom artists should take note of. This is how it’s fucking done. “The Silent Weight of the Stars” has an infectious main riff that wraps itself around your eardrums and massages them. The pinch harmonic at the end of the riff is PERFECT.

Is there anything wrong with The Light that Keeps Us? Not in the slightest. “A Moonlit Tryst” and “The Beggar’s Allegory” are straightforward Doooom. The former mixes acoustic and electric guitars for maximum effect, and the latter has this fucking killer moment right in the middle of the song where you think they’re going to blast, but no — the speedy guitar leads into this huge double-bass pattern that is absolutely crushing. It works so much better than the easy route of discharge/blast.

“The Endless Climb” is the grand finale, the doomiest doom that has ever doomed before. It’s the perfect closer for this powerhouse album. Encapsulating a two-year process of recording and getting things ready.

If you’ve been feeling like your Doom meter is on the low end, then The Light that Keeps Us is the album for you, constant reader. Go forth and obtain.

“Twas Always a Plan” opens the album with squealing guitars before the classic Master sound comes bludgeoning forward with Paul’s signature raspy, throaty vocals. He still sounds great after all these decades. He does a nice job with his enunciation so you can make out the lyrics. The monstrous speedy double bass, which has been a band trademark, is ever present here. The song has some nods to the first two classic Whiplash albums and that is most welcomed by these ears. This opener is only here to thrash the listener from side to side, with a plentiful helping of death metal. Great and catchy son. And Paul yelling “Fuck off you assholes, and Fuck You” at the start of the song is just plain fun!

The title track has a nice death/thrash opening gallop, which slows down with a weird guitar part around the 1.25 section, that I really dig. There are some cool guitar harmonies and then some speedier drums taking over. The song returns to a slower mid-paced moment, Ite a rather cool mid 80’s gallop enters into the picture, having a bit of a NWOBHM bite to it. Very classic and supremely catchy. A scorcher of a title track.

“Injustice and Lack of Remorse” has some nice isolated bass guitar, showing how he has honed his craft over the years. The death/thrash metal joins in and Paul’s vocals berating us as if we double dipped a chip at some party. The classic gallop is one of the reasons why I love the band still to this day. This gallop screams 1990 and never sounds dated, but it reaches all the way back to simpler times. So, these classic nostalgic moments Paul throws in are nods to the earlier renditions of Master and shows he has not forgotten his roots. And as an old codger, like myself, I respect these moments greatly.

“Within My Grasp” has a classic gallop to it that is worthy of you headbanging your head off that pathetic body of yours, you piece of filth! The song slows back down with Paul’s anguished vocals coming in and the gallop returning. You have to headbang and throw up your horns, in unison while you headbang, to get the true effect. Hell, if I can do it you can as well. “Let’s Revoke” ends the album with some strong Autopsy like moments rhythmically speaking, which takes me back to Severed Survival. So classic, especially with that heavy undercurrent bass sound. The slow down moments are incredibly heavy and that main riff is crucial AF! This is how you end an album folks, strong!

Among the Seeds of Death bests the last Master album and I find this album to be a bit catchier and overall better production. Super fun and Paul has the band firing on all cylinders as usual. With shows lined up and an upcoming overseas tour with Napalm Death, it’s always great to see classic bands touring together. Paul, ya bastid, you did it again. Excellent album!!

“Peasant metal”? “Medieval Avant-Metal”? “Hovel-core”?

I’m not sure what to call this: the brainchild of David Monks from the 2000s Canadian indie rock band Tokyo Police Club, here under the guise and fully in character at all times as ‘Worm Chewer’, a lowly peasant with big dreams and a bigger destiny. All started from a viral TikTok character Monks started…Ii think.

Told as a 22-part tale, with about half of them being small vignettes and skits pushing the story of Worm Chewer’s uprising against the evil kingdom, wicker siege engines, and a stolen ungulate. Musically, this is a hard one to pin down. It’s a little Jaldaboath (and at times The Meads of Asphodel) but not as humorous (though clearly the troupe does not take themselves seriously), or full of TV/movie references. It’s got some System of a Down skronky nu-metal weirdness, 90s grunge and alternative, Dethklok’s worldbuilding and character commitment, some Pillaging Villager‘s anthemic motifs of rebellion and uprising, some punk, and some legitimately heavy Crossover/ thrash/hardcore moments.

And as I mentioned, it’s all fully costumed and medieval instrument-laden (this is the first breakdown I’ve heard with a lute/lyre ever) and even has some Gregorian chants.  These guys commit to the bit for sure, with a Monty Python and the Holy Grail and A Knight’s Tale vibe.

As I said, the many vignettes (or ‘scrolls’) push the story along with the tale of Worm Chewer’s rise to power and the nefarious forces he battles. But the actual songs are what’s surprising here — there are some damn solid metal riffs and moments here. I don’t know Monk’s history with metal, and I’ve never heard Tokyo Police Club, but he delivers some super fun moments here, both metal and, as expected, folky/medieval.

After the epic choral intro of “Peasant Rising” and its chuggy build and jig, we get the jumpdafuckup-meets-medieval nu-metal chug of “Peasant Pit” and the punky power chords of “Helm Yeah”, which also has so much going on, you sort of need to hear it; Sludge, doom, techno, choirs—it’s bonkers.

“The Ballad of Sir Gregory” could be a 90s alternative song you’d hear from Taproot or Alice in Chains, while the proto-medieval thrash of “Siege Proof Hovel” has some really nice chunky riffs and even some more extreme black-ish metal vocals.

Speaking of black metal, the album’s longest track, “Dungeon Song” (where our hero is, you guessed it, thrown in a dungeon), actually has a pretty impressive black metal/crust blast beat to start the song, which then takes so many stylistic shifts and turns that it’s hard to keep track of.

One of the album’s standouts is “The Fall”, which starts with an additively delicate choral refrain and acoustics before the catchy little opening moments devolve into a fairly extreme angular number, and then the Helmet-ish “Farmers Armory” starts the album’s back end and narrative and conclusion, with the moody “Blight!”, choral”Heretic” and, as I mentioned, wicker siege engines, with “Wickermech”, a lumbering, doomy sludgy number.

The album ends on a cliffhanger as Worm Chewer’s beloved goat is stolen (“Return the Goat”), and more blackish metal moments and lumbering nu metal (including a rap break) collide to continue bringing some surprisingly real metal credibility to the whole effort, and I kinda want the sequel to get here to see the further adventures of Worm Chewer, and if he gets his goat back.

She knows my reviews dip into a variety of genres, and this band does hit the mark with industrial/rock/metal/electronica and goth.  I view this band as pretty experimental.  While the members have a past rooted in black metal, this is anything but black metal.  If you dig bands like Marilyn Manson (his more experimental albums), Type O Negative, NIN, and The Sisters of Mercy, you will be able to sink your teeth into at least some of this, but it is a tough listen during certain segments.  Read on to see why.

I am a fan of horror movies.  Pointing out that international horror is kinda my jam.  International horror pulls no punches when it comes to taboo subjects, and anyone, regardless of age, race, creed, or sex, is on the chopping block when it’s time to meet your demise.  Following that framework, we have heavy, and I mean heavy, topics the band covers.  There’s some weird narration that goes on at certain moments, and the ages vary, and it’s either the antagonist or protagonist doing the narration.  Topics such as religion, domestic violence, and a variety of different abuses are all on display throughout these songs; this is a short album, at thirty minutes.

“Fucking the Mirror” opens the album, and I advise against trying to do this, or you will get the ouchies.  Starting with some electronica beats and sounds from the early ’80s, this song is rooted in The Sisters of Mercy.  Goth-type vocals with an 80s new wave sound, also pulling from Depeche Mode.  The song is moody, and I feel all the band members lend their vocals at various times throughout the song and album.  Vocals go from harsh, melancholic, and shoegazy.  All very cool, and I must say I really like this opening song, quite a lot.  The pained vocals, especially towards the end, are pure suffering.

“W*oman’s Eyes” begins with a hellacious opening scream by a woman.  It’s terrifying.  The main goth type of vocals come in with the higher rasp and screaming in the background.  It’s a cacophony of chaos during certain moments.  Due to the vocals being piped in higher in the mix, it can be a lot.  The song picks up the speed a bit, with some industrial metal moments with a squealing guitar backdrop. Midway through the song, we are treated to atmospherics before some more pained and anguished screams and moans take center stage.  “The Orgasming” starts with harsh vocals, coming across as Marilyn Manson in their aggressive tone, then getting into more of the goth type of vocals that he uses, or for that matter, some Type O Negative influence.  This song is melancholic, depressive and a bit on the hypnotic drone side of things.  The song gets progressively heavier towards its end.

“Your Repulsive Husband” has heavier themes dealing with adultery and child abuse.  The opening lyrics of “I chain you in your room mirror child As I need a moment of peace from your screams, But then I fear you might die”, create dread, and frightening imagery.  This song is very new-wave-ish in its music, with a variety of vocal tones telling this story.  There are some varied sounds in the background, as well as a dinging bell, which coincide with some of the lyrics.  This is a depressive and moody number, sure to conjure up some emotions from within.  “Godspeed” gets into more abuse themes, and some thrashy industrial metal, making this the most extreme song on the album.  Definitely some headbanging moments and a very weird, moody guitar tone on this one.  Bendy riffage, which is original.  This and the first song are my faves.  The rest of the songs all follow these mentioned formulas.

Mousecunt is sure to raise some eyebrows with this Orgasmic Mouse debut album.  It’s experimental, boisterous at times, moody, and thematically, maybe one of the heaviest albums I’ve heard in the last decade or maybe more.  I do like this album, but in smaller doses.  I feel a bit dirty listening to it and need to shower now.  Art, in all its forms, is supposed to push boundaries, which I want, therefore, I applaud the band for going in that direction, especially with the album art.  If you enjoy weird, thought-provoking industrial/electronica metal/rock, give this band a chance.  It will also help support the label, in turn.  For me, honestly, I am unsure how many more times I will go back to listen to this one.  Doom/funeral doom can be a tough listen because of its depressive musical and lyrical themes; this band is a whole ‘nother off-the-wall depressive experience.  Nonetheless, it’s pretty cool, though.

Once again we get the total package. The cover art and inlay are magnificent, and they convey the theme of the music contained within perfectly. The production is stellar, and every note rings out with equal parts sorrow and anger.

“Gakidô” gets things started and right away I can tell this is going to be something special. A different experience than 悪罪 (Akuzaï); certainly a different approach than that album. The band plays with tempos like a cat with a dead mouse; one second they’re wrapped up in a whirlwind of blasting and the next they’re doing emotion-laden Atmospheric Black Metal.

“Ningendô” is a slow, menacing track; it wraps itself around you in a bloody embrace. It’s got a nice Dimmu Borgir vibe to it, circa Spiritual Black Dimensions and Enthrone Darkness Triumphant. It’s an unbelievably heavy song (as they all are) and I can’t stop loving the fuck out of Kurogoku.

There’s a little bit of Cradle of Filth in “Tendô” especially in the keyboard-heavy beginning, where Enterré Vivant goes full-on epic Atmospheric Black Metal. The second half of the song is a full assault, not in the sense that there is a crushing wall of blast beats… more of a wall of brutal malice.

“Chikushôdô” starts out subtly; about thirty seconds into the song, it bursts out of the speakers to devastating effect. This song is over nine minutes long and doesn’t feel like it at all. That’s the magic of how Enterré Vivant compose their songs. “Jidokugô” is next, and it’s got one of those classic Black Metal riffs that make you nod along with the beat until the blast kicks your head in at the two-forty-seven point. Only to switch to a gorgeous, yet brutal as fuck track that literally takes your breath away.

This part of Kurogoku is a bit more European than the first half; there are Japanese flourishes and moments where it sounds like Sigh and Dimmu Borgir had a bastard offspring. I can pick out some Ukrainian Black Metal influences, definitely Norwegian but firmly rooted in the French Black Metal spirit. “Shuradô” is my favorite song from Kurogoku. It’s so goddamn heavy and emotional, the riffs that weave through the song and the flute(?) I think it is a flute… anyway, it adds this whole other level of gravitas to the album, that’s what I’m trying to say.

Is Kurogoku better than 悪罪 (Akuzaï)? Fuuuuck, that’s a toughie. 悪罪 (Akuzaï) used radio transmissions to great effect, adding a huge amount of emotional impact through the story of Hiroshima. Enterré Vivant don’t do that on Kurogoku, but it doesn’t need to be done. On their fourth full-length, they’re firmly rooted in the realm of Atmospheric Black Metal with nothing to prove.

The bottom line is quality, and that’s exactly what you will get with this release. If you like Dimmu Borgir or Cradle of Filth and all things Atmospheric Black Metal, you’re in the right place. Go get this one now!

Here, Gurkkhas (with an extra K?) is a recently reunited French death metal band that was active from 1999 to 2001, releasing 2 albums on Massacre and Morbid Records, respectively. However, I never crossed paths with them back then, despite writing for multiple webzines and publications.

To celebrate their recent reunion, Gurkkhas and Underground Syndicate have remastered and released those two albums: 2000’s Engraved in Blood, Flesh and Souls and 2001’s A Life of Suffering.

Both albums are, of course, war- and heavily Gurkha-themed, with song titles like “Gurkkhas at War”, “The 12 Gurkkhas Commandments”, “Kukri” ( the famed dagger the Gurkhas used), and “Born on a Day of War”, etc., and I can only assume the songs extol the regiments’ many victories.

Musically, this is pretty standard 2000 brutalish death metal. I hear some of fellow Frenchman Loudblast or Hypokras, who were around at the time (go check out 2002s Dead and Hungry). Despite the warring themes, it’s not a Bolt Thrower knockoff, being a more thrashy European-meets-American death metal sound of the day. It’s not great, but it’s not terrible, especially considering it’s 25 years old. It’s the sort of death metal Deathgasm, Rottrevore, The LSP Company, and Sevared Records were churning out at the time.

The Engraved in Blood, Flesh and Souls tracks, despite being remastered, are still pretty rough and bog-standard 00s death metal that was saturating the scene, but tracks like “The Voice of the Terrible One” and lurching”The 12 Gurkkhas Commandments” are solid. My sort of gripe is the more thrash-hardcore vocals of Jean-François Rey.

A Life of Suffering is more of the same but a little better sounding, with a tad more low end, and slightly deeper, more death metal-ish vocals.  A much more technical, American, Floridian influence is here, with Malevolent Creation, Diabolic, Monstrosity, or Internecine coming to mind, which, considering the timeline and scene at the time, makes sense.

The likes of “Kukri, “The Day of Battle,” and “Legacy” all deliver that primal early 00s American Death metal.  That said, I’m not exactly clamoring for what the reunited project delivers next, as I’m sure it will be more of the same. Which is fine, but much like the scene in the early 00s, it wasn’t spectacular and was a bit saturated.