While I doubt that Some Things Should Stay Underground is going to top any best of 2021 lists, I do find a lot of promise, pleasure, and even possibilty in their sound and presentation. The problem though is that Necronemesis has been around for twenty  years  now and STSSU is not only the name of their debut album, but also the name of their first demo release back in 2005. In fact, “Horrorpit”, the single being pushed for the new debut album, was the featured track from the 2005 demo. Not that any of that is a bad thing or constitutes lousy music. A good song is a good song, no matter when it was written, and metal music is the type of genre where you will most likely see this type of thing. My longwinded point is that I personally don’t see oodles of musical growth in the future for a band that is obviously well established in their sound by now. Yeah, I know, it makes me sound like a dick, but it is what it is…

Regardless of how long Necronemesis or their material  has been in the game, the fact is that STSSU contains some good old -school flavored American-ized death metal here. To be honest, the band reminds me of quite a few different acts in terms of style and presentation, but I’d have to say that their take of death metal is more in line with that of (old)Death, Massacre, Bolt Thrower, Fetid Zombie, Mortification, Exhumed, Morbid Angel, and even Slaughter in the Vatican-era Exhorder. Hell, for better or worse, they even recruited Rick Rozz(Death/Massacre) to contribute all of the albums guitar solos. Now that’s commitment to the elder ways of death right there. With all the albums tracks throwing out fat riffs and plenty of catchy ass tremolo runs, there is something to latch onto around every corner of STSSU, even if they are versions and variations of ideas that are far from being novel.

From “Horrorpit”, to “They Live in the Attic”, to “Death from Above” to “Cranial Disfigurement (By Fist)”, the album definitely supplies the basics of what we death-heads like in our metal. If I had any real complaints with STSSU, it would be just two things really. One, that vocalist, Angel David’s lower gutturals sometimes dip into “dryish”  territory, where if they were just a bit more “wet” it would bring even that much more brutal resonance so-to-speak. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about some shitty Chris Barnes’ dry ass huffs and puffs, and honestly I’ve heard and enjoyed far, far worse, and considering David’s gutturals sound fine 90% of the time, as well as his higher end screams sounding pretty damn good, it would seem I’m just being a nitpicking asshole.

And two, I feel that for every bit that I dig hearing Rick Rozz hammering out some whammy bar solos and dive bombs, it is basically out of a nostalgic flair and feeling. The band could have benefited heavily in having a very different style of lead guitar/guitarist. Having a player in the vein of James Murphy, Chuck Schuldiner, Ralph Santolla, Erik Rutan, or the likes could have taken some of these already kicking ass, riff-centric tracks to blazing new heights. All in all though, I have to say Necronemesis did a pretty bang up job with their proper debut album. If you’re not a fan of the olden, non-tech ways of death metal, then you may want to stay clear of Necronemesis. Yet if a good, fun, non-arrogant beatdown is something that sounds spectacular to you, well dig in, because that’s what Some Things Should Stay Underground has in store for you.

A few things to bring up about this great band who have been around for over 3 decades.  When Onward to Golgotha was released I picked it up the first day in 1992.  My first time seeing them live the tour package was Vital Remains and Autopsy, as the headliners for the Acts of the Unspeakable tour.  Incantation were awesome and I was bummed there was only like 20 people at the Long Island, NY show.  I spoke to John McEntee and he was bummed too.  I remember him telling me if the turnouts were going to be that bad he was unsure if they or the tour could continue.  I would follow them closely through the years and when I joined Internal Bleeding in 1994 – being in touch with the band, on a different level was awesome.  A personal highlight was being on the same bill as them for the Ohio Deathfest and it was awesome.

Incantation are the creators of dark cavernous death metal – a type of genre with many bands trying to emulate Incantation – and some do an amazing job and some even poaching part of Incantation’s name to be their band name.  This is a type of death metal that if not well constructed or if the production is off , will come out sounding like a wall of noise.  Incantation, with so many albums out, well they’re all great, some better than others and 2002’s Blasphemy was a bit disjointed and suffered from a poor production.  Over the last several releases Incantation have had clearer productions and while some d-bags out there would say the band was not what they once were – I felt it enhanced the band’s doomy brutality, making those dark swirling cavernous/evil riffs come to the forefront even more so. Sect of Vile Divinities is the best produced Incantation album and my dark lord this album crushes beyond belief.

Coming out of the starting gates to punish your chest even more than Ivan Putski’s “Polish Hammer”, “Ritual Impurity (Seven of the Sky Is One)”, starts with a vintage 90’s death metal beat, with the opening guitar riff.  The song begins to pick up pace to a quicker speed and John’s vocals sounding as evil as ever and Kyle Severn is pounding the living hell out of his drums.  At around the 1.50 mark the signature doomy Incantation part, equipped with pinch harmonics comes wafting through your speakers ready to rip your head off, and Sonny Lombardozzi offering up some tasty guitar solos.

“Entrails of the Hag Queen” is a highlight in this 12 song 45 minute bombardment of brutality.  Starting off fast then right into the doomy slow part.  The isolated guitar part is excellent – with that better production, the riff comes through even more so as John’s throaty vocals are carving demonic symbols all over your emaciated body.  The song gets doomier and the guitar melodies at the 3.50 part create a very eerie atmosphere.

“Scribes of the Stygian” is another personal favorite with that opening guitar melody and then the soft drumming coming in.  But before you hold up your light…I mean your smartphone flashlight – the buildup of the drums start with a monstrous drum pattern and the rhythm section is gelling so ferocious at this point.  The rumbling heaviness is dense and depressive.  The bass guitar of Chuck Sherwood is phenomenal.  I love that the bass guitar mix gets much love on this album and it adds an extra layer of heaviness – if you can believe that.  This song shines through and through and as I am taking a breath and trying to shake off the fog and permeating bone-dense heaviness.

And then “Unborn Ambrosia”, the longest track – at 6 minutes, comes in and rips off your face faster than The Iron Sheiks’s “Camel Clutch” decapitating Bob Backlund!!  Yes, this is my Anatomy of a Song highlight for one of this year’s best songs.  Starting with a doomy, rumbling heaviness and John delivering some putrid vocals and then the isolated bass guitar over the drum parts is beyond evil, catchy and the rhythm sections’ finest moment on the record.  More awesome guitar melodies and then the guitar soloing over the faster part, comes in abruptly – which is how you do a fast part in this type of death metal.  The music slows down with Kyle, doing an almost “Raining Blood”, opening drum homage and then into the heaviness and that isolated bass guitar moment comes back and John letting out a nice growl.  Then back into that rumbling tank-like heaviness, strictly bent on delivering the most horrific prophecies to mankind.  One of Incantation’s finest songs.

Sect of Vile Divinities is a top 5 Incantation album for me.  Being able to craft such heavy, depressive, doomy music and making it catchy – well this is just a testament to their ability as seasoned song writers who are true musical craftsman!  The album cover is awesome with the demon’s and blasphemous creations all swirling about in the teal color which dominates the cover, it’s great.  As previously mentioned this is Incantation’s best produced album – the drums hit harder than ever with the best drum sound the band has achieved.  The guitars have a biting heaviness and the production brings out those riffs more to go alongside the excellent bass guitar tone.

Often imitated – but still never duplicated Incantation are back to give a middle finger to Covid and all the scene stealing Lysol wipes mofos out there.  I am hoping in 2021 the band does a USA tour.  I see they have a European tour planned in several months – so I hope they are safe.  Sect of Vile Divinities is one of this year’s finest death metal albums.  Such a kick-ass album.  Buy or Die!!

Culling heavily from The Rack as well as the Malleus  Maleficarum and  the aforementioned Consuming Impulse (just listen to “Desolate Animation”), Ravenous Compulsion, is pure old school European (well, clearly Dutch) styled death metal done really well. Not only does it have clear and concise influences that will please old school fans, both in its song writing and paint peeling production (and Drunen-ish shrieks and howls of frontman…….) , they add enough of their own quality spin to make it more than just a simple homage.

Ironically, the opening song is called “Resurrect the Source” , and I thought for damn sure I had accidentally started playing The Rack.  The likes of “Not of Human Flesh”, the title track , “Festering Alive” and aforementioned “Desolate Animation” follow suite with a no frills, old school, ripping energy that’s as authentic as I’ve heard in a long time and I half expected the opening riff from “Out of the Body” to trample from the speakers at any time.

That said, songs like closer “Putrid Faith”, with its catchy little stomping trot and “The Trophy” and “Into Obliteration” show the band are not merely just ripping of their idols, but bring a solid song craft of their own to the table. I just wish there was a slower burning number akin to Asphyx’s “The Rack” to complete this very solid album.

If you have not checked out the video for “Seismic Abyss” it’s an excellent display of what these guys are all about.   With tracks like this one you can clearly hear how they break up the influences of groups like Death and Pestilence.  I cannot say enough of the production on this one.  I had to go back and listen to some earlier Skeletal Remains to get the context on how their sound has evolved. This isn’t the most technical band but the parts that they add that are technical are well thought out and executed. The James Murphy-esque harmony section towards the end of this tune leading to an ending solo is so spot on heavy that I got a sore neck from head banging to it the first few times going through this album for review.

“Catastrophic Retribution” opens up with a very intricate fretboard run riff that can probably induce a circle pit upon first listen.  The title track, “Devouring Mortality’ opens up with one of the cooler intro parts on the album. Got love the drum fill into a lower end riff.  I can also hear some old Morgoth and Considered Dead Gorguts in Monroy’s voice.   The track has one of the more up tempo blast beat sections on the record and then goes back into crushing mid paced riffing and drumming. “Torture Labyrinth” is also quite heavy and opens up with a cool harmony part into solo and then a double up harmony lead with a strong tremolo dive into some crushing down picked rhythms.  “Grotesque Creation” opens up with some thrashy power chord progressions into a windmill inducing, finger flying shred display.  This is all builds into an incredibly catchy beat down section and then right back into thrash triplet patterns with aggressive blasting over the top.

“Lifeless Manifestation” is a cool instrumental track later on the record that has a dirty Morbid Angel vibe to it. The album closes with “Internal Detestation” which ends with the same type of intensity as the majority of this album. Devouring Mortality is a unique death metal album. Skeletal Remains have managed to create a modern old school sound without losing any intensity. From the artwork to the production to each track by track assault this record should do well for Dark Descent Records and U.S Death metal. This is a catchy keeper that will keep you head banging start to finish.

Don’t panic, the guys still play Stockholm based death metal with a killer HM-2 sound, but rather than crushing grooves, this EP now leans a little more towards the Dismember/Grave side of things with more blasting, slicing, galloping melodies and solos and more of blistering delivery with a few keyboards thrown in. The result is just as good as Ungodly Forms, with the same guitar tone (again mastered by the legendary Dan Swano), just with a more urgent pace and melodic lean.

Second track, “Bled Dry by the Night” highlights this new sound with a killer melodic lead about 3 minutes in . There are still a few thunderous moments to be had such as opener “Enter Crypts Below” and  the fucking tasty gallop of “Hatchet Crimes”. “Hellmarked” imbues Grave’s debut album with a crushing wall of mid range noise and a nice 90s keyboard break.  The EP ends with a cover of Edge of Sanity‘s “Darkday” from The Spectral Sorrows, indicating another influence on the band’s tweaked sound with keyboards and more melodies and I’m guessing a look into what the next album might sound like.

Sentient Horror have jumped to the top of The US Swedeath group and while only an EP, which I don’t usually care for, it looks like it will be a well placed transitional teaser for what’s to come. Bring it!

You know exactly what you are getting here as the band features Penki Samuelsson from Entrails on vocals/guitar and guitar production and the effort was co produced by Entrails‘ Jimmy Lundqvist . So yeah, the Entrails connection is strong, and so is the sound, though rooted in a little more sneering, punky, rocking, old school d beat Swedish form of death metal.

That said, the guitar tone here is utterly ridiculous, and an early contender for guitar tone of this young year. Just listen to the rancid mid range throes of opener “Tombthrasher” or third track “Unholy Mess”, fifth track “By The Knife” or devastating crunch of “Rotten Kill”  at high volume and let me know if your teeth are still in your head. I’ll have your fuckin’ dentist on speed dial. They also have some traditional  Stockholm, cantankerous gallops as heard on “In the Valley of Coffins”, “Fucking Your Corpse in Hell” or closer “Murderous Intentions”.

The vocals of Samuelsson  are bit less deep and less gruff and more of a hoarse shout than a growl. adding to the more old school, thrashier , latter LG Petrov sneer (compounded on tracks like “Rest in Piss” and “Necromaniac” ), but make no mistake, the riffs and the guitar tone are so damn heavy and bruising you wont care.

Yes this could be an Entrails release, but the good news is ol’ Jimmy Lundqvist  knows he has one of his proteges’ bands nipping at his heels and should push him to make Entrails better than ever.

Several years ago, Morta Skuld signed with Peaceville Records and Dave was a man with a plan.  Dying Remains was reissued to a stunning remaster 4 years ago and As Humanity Fades and For All Eternity receiving facelifts as well, in 2016.  Excellent sounds and it was killer I was able to buy them from Dave at the Baltimore show, recently.  Well, they sold out of As Humanity Fades, but nothing that Ebay couldn’t fix for me and I scored a copy within 10 minutes of the show ending.  Morta Skuld are still in the process of getting 1997’s Surface remastered, and it has proven to be an arduous task with the layout.  This sucks.  Maybe I need to find out where the graphic artist is and pay him a visit.  Anyway, I snoozed and failed to realize the band released a brand new album, Wounds Deeper Than Time.  Yes-please everyone needs to start the public shaming of Frank.  Well I picked up a copy at the show and I am truly upset at myself.  Here is why.  I handed in my best of, for 2017, kinda early, due to the holidays and taking the family on a vacation.  Had I waited longer this album would have made my list.  If we do our supplemental piece, Fillings and Cavities, this mutha effer will be on it, without a doubt.  Yes, this is one of the best albums of 2017.

The band actually opened the show I saw them at with the album opener, “Breathe in the Black”.  Not only a perfect album opener, but a fantastic way to start a live show.   The heavy crunch of the guitar and the windmilling blast beats, not only capture the essence of what initially made Morta Skuld great 25 years ago, but ups the ante, by way of upgraded production values, the strongest song-writing in the bands career and a true commitment as to why Dave decided to reform the band in 2012.  Dave’s vocals sound deeper and angrier and the guitar playing is top notch.  Scott Willecke plays guitar, as well and he kicks ass live.  A nice dude, as well.  It’s also cool that both he and Dave do guitar solos.  Eric House, smashes the drums, because quite frankly-he wants to.  The way he pummels you with the double bass and then the song picks up speed.  Quick little blast, before going into a more powerful blast and then right back into the groove.  Aj kills it with his powerful bass guitar playing and the added heaviness adds to the strongest rhythm section, the band has ever had.  And if you thought the band would let up on the gas pedal-then crawl back under that rock and never leave.  “Hating Life” [no-not a Grave cover song], is brutal, with blasts and some well done guitar soloing at the 1.49 section.  Dave also sings a little clearer in certain sections and also let’s us know he still has the brutality, with some well placed vicious growls and higher register growl/screams.  The mid-paced pounding brutality also will collapse chest cavities worldwide.  And while your chest is collapsing, and you’re choking to death and cities are falling into sinkholes, all around you, you will continue to say: “I Will Get Through This, I’m Hating Life”, over and over and over again until death comes to wisk you away.    Rest of the album- this good??  Hell yes.  How about “Devour the Chaos” with the evil guitar melodies and riffing and yes I caught some vintage pinch harmonics in there.  I started swinging once I heard ‘em.  The tune has a classic death thrash beat and mid paced rumbling heaviness which will pummel you and “Scars Within”-Oh Lordy, Lordy, Lordy.  Monster blasting, vocals, ethereal guitar soloing and some monster riffing at the 3.35 part.

The production is top-notch, all instruments sound great, nothing buried.  When a guitar solo needs to be lifted in the mix, it’s never obnoxious, and is in line with the rest of the production.  Every song drips: catchiness, class, brutality, melody and well-written and well-thought out songs.  No filler-only killer.  And christ almighty-good to see Peaceville throwing some coin at Morta Skuld.  The layout is one of the best I’ve seen.  Interesting and visually striking album cover, with an enormous booklet.  24-panel booklet with photos, pics, and killer graphics.  All housed in a great digipak.  Morta Skuld are the fuck back, either step the fuck away or come closer and join ’em.  Wounds Deeper Than Time is a godly album.  Buy or Die!