Amalgamated States is Mucosal’s debut EP, and it’s a bit rough around the edges, but you can tell that a lot of heart and soul went into the creation of this debut and honestly, it’s not bad at all… It’s good at what it’s wanting to get across.

Starting things off with “Denied, Defiled, Disposed” pretty well sums up the ideological direction that Mucosal is going for the jugular on; this is a fucking dragged-across-concrete type of track. It is Neanderthal slow at first before it goes all Grinding Punk near the track’s end.

There’s a sense of Extreme Noise Terror and Terrorizer in the next track, “Egregore”; it’s a pissed off mother fucker of a song. With an opening sample that is too good not to mention, this is solid to the bone, yo. Then there’s “Programmer Crashed Race,” which is about as insane as you can imagine a song with a title like that should be. Just balls to the bloodstained wall intensity and violence.

These songs don’t overstay their welcome, either. Short and to the goddamn point with no pussyfooting or anything lame like that. Guess what “The Old Hate” is about; I’ll give you a minute in case the intro doesn’t give it away. This is a Punky Grind bastard, Napalm Death-ish with a bit of Broken Bones and Raw Noise extremity. The message is clear as day.

Next and final track is “Amalgamated States” and it struts around like the guy trying to get the fucking pit going. It’s got skronk, some crazy as fuck drumming, and some reverb-laden Slayer-ish soloing. It has a very peaceful outro, however, and I’m assuming it’s because you want to play it again, so it leads into the beginning of the album.

Sporting sick as all hell cover art and a suitably grimy production, Amalgamated States is a promising EP from a brand new and hungry band. They’re not reinventing anything, but then they don’t need to.

If you think Napalm Death, Terrorizer and Extreme Noise Terror are the absolute bees knees then I urge you to pick up Amalgamated States. Thank me later.

And on album number 4, the quartet (Farago – vocals,/guitars, Samael – guitars, Apophis – drums, Thanatos – bass) has done what most bands do this far into a discography: remained consistent in their sound so as not to lose fans, but developed enough for the fans to also be happy with the band’s growth. (We fans are a fickle lot)

One of the very minor changes is that the vocals of Farago have changed just a smidge; they are a little more shouty than raspy, reminding me a little of Nergal’s more recent Behemoth output (listen to the 4th track “Thanatos, Embrace of the Night”), and I think musically that’s also a pretty fair comparison, maybe mixed with a little Watain. It’s black metal, but it’s polished and a little burlier, with some grandiose, ritualistic vibes and a few keyboards and atmospheric segues (i.e., “Lux Fulget”, “Of Stones Sleep and Death” and “The Accuser”- both of which have some excellent piano work).

And while the opener “In Noctem” had me a little concerned – it has one of those ‘drop’ teases, but for black metal)- still, it’s mainly about solid, frosty, 6/8 melodic tremolo-picked riffs. For example, the true opener “Tabula Rasa”, the excellently melodic “Glorification”, and “De Profundis” (where Lethian of Nornír) also adds her traditional raspier black metal shrieks).

Closer “Hypnos, I See you” wraps up the fine affair with a mix of everything on the album’s longest track, and definitely leans into the newer Behemoth sound, and a sound I think Servant does very well.

The band stays intact with this album, with Anatoly on bass, Efim on drums, Vyacheslav on guitars, and Ivan behind the vox. In the promo, bassist Anatoly (Katalepsy) singled me out to review their newest offering, so I had to jump at the chance to review the album. The new album cover is pretty neat and I think it is a better album design than their debut album. With this album, we get eight songs in 45 minutes.

“Beneath Unhallowed Ground” opens with a bunch of growly and berating vocals, with the music slowly coming together to start building up. This opening goes on for a while with those shouted vocals, and it’s a bit much, since the vocals are way too loud in the mix, although they are very good. The music still retains the old-school Morbid Angel/Brutality flair as a blast beat enters into the picture. Anatoly’s bass still retains the bite and pluckiness that was present on the Katalepsy albums. He has a great bass guitar sound. The blast is ferocious, with some dual-layered vocals, at times. The stomp groove at the 3.25 section features prominent bass work and I do love the sound of the snare drum. Vocals are angry and vicious, just a bit too loud in the mix.

“Condemned to Eden Below” has an excellent rhythm section early on, and it shoots right into the blast beat, then slows down to a mid-paced crunch fest. If you’re not swigging back pints of vodka and slamming, during this part, you need to go back to bed. There are some bendy guitar riffs and then a nice groove section which is sure to get a pit going. The pinch harmonics are tight and it’s always good to hear them well-placed in a song. The tempo shifts are tremendous and there is a guitar solo, that fits in well. Some of the bendy riffage has an Immolation flair. Yet another good song.

“Forever Unsaved”, with some of the spoken-word moments early on, takes on a rap approach. Hearing Ivan, with his thick Russian accent, is an interesting style. Maybe on the third album we will get this style fully realized on a song. For now, it is inserted to have a tough-guy sound to it. So watch out! This song is surprisingly melodic with some progressive and off-kilter time changes. The song sounds rather complicated to play, and there is a squealing guitar in the middle of the song. There are moments where I do not know if I should headbang, throw up my horns or just relax, like I am reading a book near the fire. This song is all over the place. It’s pretty cool, especially the bass solos towards the end of the song; damn, he is fast.

“None Shall Be” ends the album with more of a brooding and heavy buildup. This beginning is slower and quite excellent. There are more atmospherics, taking us on a dreamscape path, before that mid-paced stomp drives home the message. The blasts and progressive/serene moments all tie together with Ivan’s excellent and varied vocals. What a great song to end the album.

Sermon Under Mound is a damn fine death metal album from Gravegod. It beats their debut with song structure, and I quite enjoy the variety of tempos the band tosses in. The musicianship is spot on, with Anatoly’s bass work having the best bass guitar sound on a death metal album for 2026. The band knows when to blast and to utilize it to their advantage and not overdo it. Sure, the vocals are a bit too loud in the mix, but outside of that, everything sounds good. Crank this sucker up, Nostrovia!

Some parts Pain, some parts Aborym and a Blackened version of Skinny Puppy. This is a mechanized assault on the senses. Like the best Sci-fi horror game you’ve ever played (you know, if you’re into that sort of thing). The way the song titles are done is called Transmissions. I think that’s cool as fuck, and each one has its own identity that makes it an incredibly enjoyable sequence.

“First Transmission” gets the ball rolling with some huge Pain vibes; the vocals are otherworldly and unsettling. I love the autonomous nature of the effects on the display. The guitars are compressed to the point of being squashed under the cyber hellscape.

“Second Transmission” is like hearing the demise of a planet. It implodes, reconstructing itself with the noxious vocals supplied by members 040118180514 and 102119200914. No, I don’t know who is doing what because the male vocal is distorted to the point where it’s nothing but crackles and pops, and it’s countered by the harsh, female vocals that seem to howl from the outer world.

The “Third Transmission” and the “Fourth Transmission” are like bursts of kinetic energy, contained to a small, private place. The “Third Transmission” is a slow, crawling miasmatic space slug, while “Fourth Transmission” is a striding nightmare with some insane vocal antics.

“Fifth Transmission “ goes heavy duty on the Darkwave tip. It goes almost full-blown Hard Techno in the midsection of the song, sounding like a computer locked in its death throes. But it’s “Sixth Transmission” that is my favorite song on First Contact. It has a swirling, Dead Space video game tone to it, like right before the Necromorphs attack and rip you apart. The second half of the song is furious blasting, and I wish the drums were more pronounced; it is what it is, though.

“Seventh Transmission” is more of a classic Black Metal with some grinding electronic elements added for good measure. Endspace plays with tempos like a cat with a dead mouse. Therefore, “Seventh Transmission” has some lunatic vocals that sound like a robot on acid.

“Eighth Transmission” starts with some slow, plodding drums with the haunting keys in the background. It erupts into a supernova of violence with this cool as fuck riff that propels the track forward with galactic menace. This is unlike anything I’ve heard recently, and I fucking love that! Totally original take on the genre, unapologetically fantastical. Finally, the “Ninth Transmission” comes crackling through the speakers. Soaring vocals match the blasting drums hit for hit, and then it shifts tone completely and does some Space Jazz before the relentless blasts kick in. This is such a powerful album that I want to exist in the world it creates.

So yeah, I love First Contact. Endspace has created a Black Metal experience that isn’t afraid to experiment with mind-crushing brutality and subliminal Darkwave with Hardcore Techno sensibilities. If you like Thorns, Skinny Puppy, Suicide Commando and Aborym… you need to get this motherfucker now.

The Hollowing of Godflesh picks up right where last year’s aptly named Punishment EP left off: blasphemous, punishing, bludgeoning deathcore that’s a relentless beatdown. No atmospherics, no epic keyboards or synths (though there are some teeny tiny bits buried here and there, ie “Dead Crown”, end of “Godkiller”), just a sub-30-minute pummeling.

And with Dan Tucker’s massive presence (vocally and physically), the whole thing is just disgustingly heavy. Starting with the slow and low menacing rumble of “Gun Eater”, an intro of sorts, then kicking off properly with “Desecrate Infinite”, then ending with “Dead Crown”, the album is a jackhammer to the face of blistering blast beats and teeth-shattering breakdowns from start to finish, in short, 2-3 minute-ish bursts.

Highlights are hard to find as the bludgeonings all run together, but certainly “Godkiller” and “Torture Engine”, with early Decapitated “Day 69”-ish razor-sharp riffage and massive breakdowns, are worth revisiting. But like being punched in the face repeatedly, all the punches feel the same; they hurt and leave you beaten and bruised afterwards.

But unlike being punched in the face, I’m ready for more once the album ends, and hit ‘play’ or ‘please start punching me again and again.

Boy, I sure do. My first exposure was 2002’s Fermina, a transitional album that saw the band move away from the melodic death/black metal of their first two efforts (Evanescent, Everfading in 1998, and August Wernicke in 1999) into more progressive, gothic pastures. 

Fermina introduced the world to the clean vocals of Tuomas Tuominen, who up to that point had used some standard rasps and growls, but to this day his svelte tones remain some of the best clean singing in metal I’ve ever heard. However, the band split up in 2007 after Aerolithe. You can still hear Tuominen on his darkwave rock project, Wait, Stone & Sure (which also features Hänninen).

But around 2019-2021, Fall of the Leafe guitarist Jussi Hänninen formed two new projects: the death/doom band The Bleak Picture, with vocalist Tero Ruohonen, and Autumfall, also with Ruohonen and drummer Olli Pirkkanen. Hänninen has released three self released  albums under the Autumnfall name, but until now I was completely unaware of the project’s existence. That has been rectified immediately, as all of Autumnfall‘s albums are now in my possession.

Astute readers and Fall of the Leafe fans will recognize Autumnfall from the name of the first Fall of the Leafe demo, and while unfortunately Tuominen is not here, Hänninen and his immediately recognizable dancing, shimmering layered riffs are back, as Autumnfall returns to the early, more raw days of Fall of the Leafe, (most of these songs were written in 1998-2001) and adds more polished and elegant melodic and symphonic black metal.

Phew, sorry for that long-winded intro, but Christ, this brings back memories. While in The Bleak Picture the sound is more traditional Rapture-ish Finnish death/doom, here, Hänninen’s sumptuous, unique riffs instantly bring you back to the band’s early Evanescent… and August Wernicke days, and even Fermina. Just with black and death metal vocals from Ruohonen.

Listen, every note here is just exquisite, and no one creates and plays riffs quite like Hänninen (early Dark Tranquility’s Skydancer, and Of Chaos and Eternal Night are the nearest comparisons), even when delivered in a slightly more aggressive style.

From the opening piano tinkling of “The Halo in Utopia”, with its uniquely Hänninen-styled flourishes, the haughty layers and leads of “Lightless Depths”, the elegant blast beats of “Dark Goddess”, the death/doom stomp of “Mists of Eternity”, and shimmering “Crystal Skies” to the surprisingly fierce “Pulse”,  and gorgeous closer ‘The Timeless Kin”, the whole album could be August Wernicke meets Fermina, just sped up, more keyboards and with harsh vocals instead of clean singing (I mean listen to “The Blind Brother”).

How I never came across this project until their third album is staggering, but I’m glad I did and will definitely keep tabs on this band as well as The Bleak Picture.

Straight away I’m over here thinking these guys are European… they’re not. They hail from the hub of all things American Power Metal: Nashville, TN. Be that as it may, these guys have a very firm grasp of what top-notch Power Metal should sound like, and they pound that knowledge home with a large hammer.

There’s the intro; here it’s called “In Spirit, in Shadow”, and it’s a lush, keyboard-laden affair. It sets the tone of the album perfectly before “Evermore” comes galloping out of the speakers. It’s got a bit of a Demons and Wizards vibe to it that isn’t unwelcome. But then they do tracks like the Within Temptation -y “Valkyrie’s Fire” and “Cascade”, here and now I’m going to shout this out loud… Bettie Floyd can fucking sing! But then, she already knows that, and now you do.

I’ve never mentioned Within Temptation in a review, so that is a first for me. However, “Burning Sky” has more in common with Disembodied Tyrant or the Zenith Passage. There’s slamming and guttural vocals, and it really has nothing to do with the rest of the album at all.

Which brings me to album length. 01:11:06 is a bit longer than my attention span allows for, and while Out of Darkness is a fun Power Metal album… it’s fucking long. There’s enough material for a good-sized EP, plus a full-length to boot. Sometimes less is more. This goes for any genre of music, so I’m not just picking on these guys.

“Shattered”, “I See the Angels Fly” and “Skylark” sort of blow by pretty quickly. They’re all good songs, bordering on ballad status for a couple of tracks, as well. There are so many killer riffs on Out of Darkness that it’s hard to keep track.

The production is spot on, and the artwork is killer. I want to get that out there for a debut album; this ticks all the boxes.

Now back to the songs because there are still five more songs to talk about… yeah, that’s right… five more. As I said, this is a long album and, usually, this many songs can be found on a Grindcore record; but then those songs are usually running around the two-to four-minute mark. These are some hefty tracks, clocking in at around five to seven minutes long.

“Labyrinth” has a bit of a Kamelot vibe to it, as does “Bone and Thorn” and even “Dark Moon”.There are galloping riffs and even some competent thrash-style drumming that keeps things interesting. “Nocturne” and “I Will Rise Again” finish the album off with a suitably grandiose flourish.

Valkyrie’s Fire has unleashed a monster of an album. Overly ambitious, perhaps, but it’s a solid Power Metal record that deserves your time and attention. If you’re a fan of Kamelot, Within Temptation, or something along those lines, then you’ll be in the right place. Go get Out of Darkness.

Also, riff-wise and structure-wise, I get some early Mastodon and Baroness, but with a thicker, earthier, sludgier, and doomier (so…..Chicagoan?) backbone; case in point: “Spectral Cataclysm”, which starts the album proper after a short instrumental “Void of Guilt”. After its black/crust-basting opening few bars, it settles into a Mastodon-ish lurch and stagger. The vocals, though, are pure sludge/doom with a gritty, earthy bellow from guitarist Peter Norman (the trio is rounded out by drummer Edward Hamel and CJ Johnson on bass).

There are a few damn fine moments scattered around the 6-song, 45-minute affair. Whether it’s the aforementioned blackened blasts in “Spectral Cataclysm”, the hefty opening riffs of “Bodies Dragged to Sunlight”, the crusty sway towards the end of “Slow Death Chant”, or the stank-face-inducing bass run and heaving, subsequent riff late in the album’s sprawling, 13-minute centerpiece, “An Ocean of Broken Hope. It’s all rendered with a solid production and master that I’m sure has way more impact in a live environment, as this is pretty clean on record and the low end isn’t quite as devastating as some of their peers.

The album ends with more Mastodon-imbuing riffs of the title track, and while I feel the band is more effective when slowing it down a bit and leaning a little more into the sludge/doom, it’s still an enjoyable stammering, staggering track, and does end with a nice sludgy sway, finishing the album on a high note.

In a word: absolutely.

When this trilogy first commenced back in 2025, and I covered A Dark Poem Part I: the Shores of Melancholia, I had no idea of the direction that these guys would go (and why would I? I’m just along for the journey). The follow-up to that album was an even more brooding dip into the psychological depths of grief and loss. A Dark Poem Part II: Sanguis had a much doomier and more solemn tone to its six tracks. “Loneliness Untold, Loneliness Unfold” being my favorite track off that, while it was “The Slave that you Are” from Part I that captured my attention the most.

But now I sit here with the brand-spanking-new stuff. The coup de grace if I may be so bold. The whole thing is magnificent, from the artwork to the stellar production; I feel almost sad that it’s ending.

So how is A Dark Poem Part III: the Messiah Complex compared to its predecessors? It builds up on subtle keys; the drums come in, and the bass walks right on up and starts rolling along. “Unconditional Artificial Chemistry” gets under your skin with that catchy, Arcturus-ish-sounding title, and the song itself lives somewhere between Opeth’s Black Water Park and Arcturus’ Sham Mirrors. It moves with its own powerful currents, ripping at your heartstrings as it goes on its way.

“The Messiah Complex” is next, the crushing title track with the epic lyric “It’s a sign”, King Herod replied “A massacre’s needed in order to withhold the throne. Oh, my Bethlehem, I will reign in blood until my enemies are slain”. This is the heaviest song on A Dark Poem Part III: The Messiah Complex, fitting the overall resonating theme of overcoming the depths of human suffering and the resolution to continue after all is said and done.

This is a Prog album, first and foremost. Yes, it has it’s heaviness that compliment a Metal aspect, but for as much as there is a hint of say, Opeth. There’s also a King Crimson-esque quality that is unmistakable; “Common Enemies” is quite possibly the best song in the whole trilogy. It is dynamic and breathtaking; the way Green Carnation put the song together is masterful in it’s scope. The solo will give you chills down to your soul.

But there is a trick up the sleeve of A Dark Poem Part III: Theitssiah Complex, and that is the final track “A Dark Poem – Orchestral Suite”. This is sixteen minutes of command performance. It moves like currents within it’s own tide. A spellbinding movement that captivates and caresses your mind.

The band brought in guest performer Ingrid Oitsn flute for “Broken Souls, Common Enemies” and the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra and Opera Choir on “A Dark Poem – Orchestral Suite”. If I were to rank the trilogy in order of best to least, then it would run Part III, Part I, and then Part II. This is the most fun I have had reviewing a trilogy. Maybe Green Carnation could be talked into a box set of the whole thing. Maybe?

At any rate, this album needs to be in your collection. Listen to it on its own or as part of the overall architecture of the three combined albums. For fans of Opeth, King Crimson and Mozart. Submit yourself to the sorrow, get it now.

With their 12th album, Cursum Perficio, there have been plenty of delays with this sucker. Drummer, Charlie Benante, went on to drum with the Pantera reunion act and that took a lot of time away from Anthrax, as they toured and opened up for the likes of non-other than Metallica, so his priorities were elsewhere. It’s been 10 years since their last album, the magnificent For All Kings and the same line-up returns on Cursum Perficio. Admittedly, outside of the previously released singles, this album did not hit me between the eyes like the band’s last two efforts. This was more of a slow burner, and after several listens I became hooked. The band incorporates some of the most extreme Anthrax moments in terms of speed and crunchy stomping mosh parts. So, let’s get to the review, dang it.

11 songs in 53 minutes, the album opens with a minute long intro, “Persistence of Memory”, that goes into “The Long Goodbye”. I was expecting the band to come outta the starting gates with a fast thrashy song, but they do not. A mid-paced crunchy number that has some commercial appeal to it. The chorus is exceedingly catchy, and the guitar riffing is outstanding, Ian on fire, as usual. Charlie lets loose with some cool drum rolls and there are some creative stop and start moments and soloing going on that is courtesy of Jonathan Donais. The rhythm section tight with Frank Bello’s killer bass lines and Joey’s vocals sound as great as ever. Overall, though, the intro and this song are both more of a whimper, rather than a rallying cry, from a band that has not released an album in a decade.

“It’s for the Kids”, was one of the singles previously released. After a little squealing guitar action, the song rips into the thrash the masses have grown to love and expect from the band with an aggressive and catchy chorus, that slows things down, into a killer circle moment. The squealing guitar returns, a nice drum roll, then BAM!!! Right back into the thrash speed. The Holy Shit moment is the 2.20 marker, and it hits, this is one of the best mosh/slam moments Ian has ever written. So much so, this takes me back to NYHC, with the groove. It is crucial. The pits will be monstrous during this part. Then a nifty and super killer guitar solo erupts that takes us over the speedy parts. This song should have come right after that opening intro, imo. But what do I know?!

“The Edge of Perfection” is that song folks… On Worship Music Anthrax had a little blast going on and this song brings it. At 6:46, this is the longest song, and the soft opening will fool you. The blast at the 32 second marker is fueled with black metal riffing. Something that was bound to rub off on the band with all the more extreme metal acts they have played with in the last 15 years. But that is pure black metal, and it brings a huge smile when Joey is doing some aria ahhhs over these moments. The song slows down with a super heavy lead guitar riff, that has an abundance of melody too. The blast returns with Joey singing over it and the song slows back down with terrific vocals and gang shouted vocals to accompany him. The back and forth of the varying speeds is breathtaking, making this the most extreme Anthrax song to date, and these bastids are in their 60’s now. This is my favorite song on the album.

“Infectious”, takes us back to Among the Living , with the groove and crunch and catchy vocals. The band also showcasing more of their melodic edge, they have also incorporated over the last two albums and I can see this song being played live. There are many points where I can picture the spotlights coming on and the fans headbanging in unison to this song. “NYC 93” brings back the speed and is a banger as it thrashes all over the place with the gang shouted vocals of It ain’t worth doing unless you do it to death is gang shouted over and over with Ian’s parts piped in a little louder, or else he is just much louder than everyone else. Another great song to be in their live set.

“My Victory” closes out the album with it’s tremendous double bass moments and lead guitar riff which will embed in your brain for days on end. The crunchy guitar tone is one of the heaviest Anthrax moments, ever. It is brilliant and Joey belting out the vocals, perfectly timed. This song must be in their live set. It is super catchy, fun, thrashy and has a cute little groove/stomp at the end. That lead guitar riff…..damnit it, Ian, you did it again, you crafty bastid.

Cursum Perficio is an excellent thrashy Anthrax album with the band bringing in all their decades of expertise and moments into this sucker. I’m not a fan of album covers without a band’s logo, therefore I wish the band logo was on here. On the virtual interactive album cover, on Apple Music, it’s actually super cool to look at what’s going on when the music is playing. The production is top notch and honestly if you never liked the band in the past, you’re not going to start liking them now. Although “The Edge of Perfection”, you should listen to for the black metal riffing, over the blasting. It’s not something you have ever heard Anthrax do. And that is why out of new ones, from the bigger bands this year, like Lamb of God, Megadeth, Kreator and Exodus, Anthrax have the best album. They are doing different things and incorporating new ideas, still all these decades later. Welcome back Anthrax, what a scorcher of a crushing album!!

So now that everyone is all caught up with the back story and the future release schedule. How is this debut full-length and is it worth your valuable time? Well first of all, yes it is very worth your time. A melding of Dark Funeral and Marduk sounds good on paper and fortunately the way Mindvile execute said melding makes it extremely fun to listen to.

The production is massive and in your face and the killer artwork brings it all together. The total package will be absolutely killer, according to the presser and since physical media is still a popular format, it is not showing any signs of going away.

“Bite by Bite” is first and it’s a home wrecker due to the need to fling and flail yourself into the walls. These aren’t long, drawn out songs. They’re quick and to the point. “Predator’s Mask” is next and there are those Marduk moments I was saying come blasting in. Roller-coaster rides aren’t even this intense, to the point where it’s aural brutality; a literal assault on your sense of hearing.

“Unholy Task” and “The Evil Siren’s Tongue” have more of a Dark Funeral-ish vibe to them, especially the latter which could have sat like Baphomet on Secrets of the Black Arts or Vobiscum Satanas. “Lord of the Threshold” and “Judge, Killer and Executioner” are my favorite tracks on Old Continent. Go for the jugular, precision blasts and riffs that roll over your ass like a tank.

“Craftman’s Legacy” and “Cellarbound” round out the album in proper bombastic fashion. Both are fast as fuck, boy! Although they do play around with tempos, not just here; but across the album. It’s all about diversity in the end, anyway.

While Mindvile aren’t reinventing the Black Metal wheel any time soon, Old Continent is a competent album. I’m anxious to see what they do with this concept series and as long as they keep up the caliber of music I’ve spoken about here, it’ll be a banger.

If this sort of thing excites you then you should automatically pick it up. Do yourself a favor.

What hasn’t changed is the band’s deft mix of multiple genres, from Bolt Thrower and Swedish death metal to some black metal, war metal, and some black/thrash, and even some Gothenburg death metal with damn solid results.

Those elements come together both between songs and smoothly within them. Case in point: the opening title track has a lot of everything thrown into one eight-minute mass of tumbling, rumbling riffs; the early  Entombed, “Revel in Flesh” styled gallop standout “Inexorable Slaughter”, the pure spikes-and-leather black thrash of “Fully Armed and Filthy”, the Bolt Thrower trundle of “Unto the Anvil of War” (which also has another “Revel in Flesh” type riff), the tremolo-picking riffs in “Warp Storm Imminent”. In all, I keep being reminded of fellow Kentuckians Abominant.

If my ears are correct, there is even some slight keyboard usage in “Penitent Engine”, and then in “Iron Within, Iron Without”, the album’s other standout, gets blasty with some Dismember-y melodies before the closer “Eternal Enslavement” wraps things up with a song that does a little of everything, but i would have preferred the album go out with a bit more of a memorable bang.

The production has a slight Swedish buzz to it, but I wouldn’t call it a full-on buzzsaw guitar tone, and vocalist/guitarist Conqueror Horus has a throaty rasp and shout, keeping things in that black/thrash realm, though the odd gruff bellow reminds you this is mostly solid, enjoyable death/black metal at its core.

Their mix of Exhumed/Carcass is ever-present. Mark Wallace’s varying vocal tones — the gutturals and raspier vocals — are piped in excellently, as is the production of layering the vocals to make it appear there are two vocalists. At times, Deicide comes to mind with this effect. The guitar solo, hovering over the blast beat, is exceptional, and the grind blast is terrific. Adam Houmam continues to excel in his craft with his monstrous blasts. This song features some very cool drum parts, and the guitars of Mike Flory and his wife Ria Flory are brutal. Ria plays bass/guitars in the killer Emasculator band, by the way. This is a brutal opening number.

“The Autopsy: A Surgical Sonata” is a song title you would expect on a Carcass album, but Cartilage beat them to the punch. Melodic guitars with some of the harmonies are interwoven into brutal riffage over the blasts. The dizzying array of vocal tones and the layering is some of the best I have heard in a bit. Some of the monstrous blasts, especially at the two-minute timestamp, are going to rip your limbs apart in a nanosecond. The song slows down and gallops at a terrific headbanging pace. Once the blast takes over, you had better stop headbanging or else you might headbang that head of yours right off your pathetic shoulders.

“A Lymphatic Labyrinth of Roiling Rot” has an opening guitar riff that is so killer, then right into the Holy Shit blasting madness. This moment is pretty vicious, and with the vocals, I am wondering if another member of the band, during a concert, takes over maybe one of the tones. Because, with the layering effects, the vocalist is either going to have to stick to one tone and another member pipes in the other tone in order to replicate the album moments, or they just forgo the different tones. Hopefully one of the band members helps out with the other tone, since it sounds killer, just like how Dying Fetus and Exhumed have been pulling this off, brutally, for decades. This song moves and grooves, and the double bass drums sound great with one of the best snare drum sounds all year. This song is fun, brutal, and has some pit action moments here and there.

The rest of the songs all follow this formula, with the title track another strong standout, with the Carcass-inspired opening moments and galloping pacing taking over. The song slows down to a mid-paced, bludgeoning crawl and then double-pounding madness. The variety of vocal tones and tempo shifts will keep you on your toes and off your toes as well.

Operating Altar is yet another brutal release from Cartilage, who keeps upping their game. So much so that this band is one of the strongest in their genre class. Songs are memorable and catchy, and death/goregrind is not always something easy to pull off. There is enough harmony on this album to keep some of the technical fans happy, and so much putrid filth to keep us goregrind and death metal fans happy like a clam. Get this dirty, filthy, brutal album now!

So now there’s a live album called A Beast to Praise and of course it’s good. There’s crowd banter, you can hear the whoosh when the fire pots go off, and Heljarmadr sounds phenomenal. As a frontman, he is among my favorite vocalists… plus he seems like a cool dude, all down to earth and shit.

I’m not going to dwell on the songs so much here, you’ve heard them before, and since there’s no need for comparison to other bands, I’ll just be commenting on the quality of the performance and the sound, shit like that, you know?

The first live album review I did for TOTD was for the Amorphis opus Tales from the Thousand Lakes – Live at Tavastia album. You can read it here if you haven’t yet; I’ll wait.

Okay, so crowd noise or anything to indicate that other people are in the room is what makes a great live album. Period. Kiss, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest have all released live music that has become the golden standard. Is A Beast to Praise as good as those? Hmmmm… no. But that doesn’t even matter because it’s capturing the essence of a veteran band who have nothing to prove, other than they are masters at what they do.

“Unchain My Soul” is first and it sets the tone perfectly. There’s crowd interactions and it lets you know that there is, indeed, a whole bunch of people there. They literally blast through their hiinteraction,track list is pretty fucking impressive (although my personal favorite, “Atrum Regina” is absent, but I’ve heard them play it enough when I’ve seen them so… it’s ok).

“Vobiscum Satanas”, “Let the Devil In”, “We are the Apocalypse”… every note, harmony, and bestial scream make it feel like you’re right there, front row; witnessing the spectacular essence that is a Dark Funeral show… the artwork is magnificent, and the booklet looks slick as f,ck.

They end the album with “The Secrets of the Black Arts” and “Where Shadows Forever Reign”; and then you walk out of your virtual venue to have a smoke before going back to listen to it again. A Beast to Praise is a solid live album, capturing an experience with the power of technology to deliver live blasphemy to the masses.

Go get it! This will tide you over while they’re hard at work on their next album (I’m assuming that’s what they’re doing. They could be playing golf for all I know). Anyway, what are you waiting for?

But here is Australia’s A Night In Texas (I’d love for someone to comment on the band’s name origins), with their 4th album, The Darkest Side of Humanity, to rectify the situation. Surprisingly, I’m not overly familiar with the band, only having first heard them on 2024’s Digital Apocalypse, but in going back and checking out the band’s first 2 efforts, 2015’s God Delusion and 2017’s Global Slaughter, I see that they’ve been pretty consistent with their sound: technical deathcore with some symphonic elements scattered generously around.

Now, when I say blackened or symphonic deathcore, I don’t mean a full-on Lorna Shore, Shadow of Intent, or Worm Shepherd sound. It’s close, but the band’s primary sound is firmly rooted in the band’s thriving Australian deathcore scene (To the Grave, Thy Art is Murder, etc.), but adds symphonic elements at times. But when they do lean into the more epic/dramatic sounds, which seems like tangibly more than prior releases, it hits pretty hard, as they are delivered/composed by none other than Francesco Ferrini (Fleshgod Apocalypse), so I’d expect nothing less.

This increased orchestral and choral presence is used well to enhance moments in songs, rather than being present all the time, but when they do show up, they are super effective. It makes already stout tracks like “Fed to Death” the standout “Metastatic Misery”, ‘The Infinite Maw” (where Ryan Vail of Larcenia Roe helps out), or the closing killer title track pretty fucking epic. At times, I’m reminded of when Bonecarver’s sound changed on Carnage Funeral (in particular, the start of “Metastatic Misery” recalls “Morgue Desecrator” from that album).

But there is plenty of straight-up brutal, brutal deathcore for the Crown Magnetar folks, like “Rot From Within” or “A Primal Conditioning”, where the orchestration is a little less present or more understated, if still there (I mean, why would you hire Ferrini and not use him at least a little?). The only track that’s a bit of an outlier is “When the Sun Burns Out”, a moody sort of ballad with clean vocals that, while going for Whitechapel’s The Valley/Kin sound, doesn’t quite work for me.

The band’s own guitarist, Cory Judd, produced and engineered the album, as he has on past albums, and it sounds great, making the entire effort one of the better examples of the genre in 2026, though right now it doesn’t have much competition.

So what does Necrocene have that Left to Die lacked? ORIGINALITY! I’m going to try and keep away from the comparisons to Left to Die. Necrocene’s Scumocracy is an ode to the Morris Sound studio … and it’s fucking excellent in case you were wondering.

Right away, “(Threshold)” is the perfect intro for Scumocracy, capturing the horror vibes from those visceral Italian films like Gates to Hell and Zombie. It ends abruptly as “Ordinary Enemy” kicks in and wipes the floor with your feeble sense of dignity. This is what I’m talking about, there’s a Death riff here that could’ve been right at home by the fire on Human. This makes me want to run around my backyard and mosh with my dogs.

“Tempestarii” has the tastiest riff and solo on Scumocracy. Guitarists Alex and Joy channel those days of early brutality, fledgling Death Metal bands that have become legends in their own right: Death, Obituary, and Cancer right off the bat. But this is more than an homage album, like I said, there is originality, and that goes a long fucking way.

I love Scumocracy because of moments like “Scale of Grey” and the absolutely bonkers title track that’s going to have those people who like to pretend they’re Sho Kosugi in Revenge of the Ninja spinning around like crazy people. “Scumocracy” is a great sing a long sing-alongen kidding) It’s pretty indicative of the current state of affairs that we’re being forced to endure. Listen to the lyrics, they’re pretty understandable since vocalist Apo has a voice on the cusp of Chuck Schuldiner and John Tardy.

“(Stillpoint)” is another crawling instrumental that sticks around briefly, giving the album room to breathe before the throttling begins again. “Human Lithifacation” I don’t know what that means, but it sounds painful. I do know that there are some sick riffs being fired off. This is just a crushing album and total experience overall. The production is on point, in your face with a bloody hammer, and the killer artwork brings it all together.

“Concrete Petrichor” starts off slow, allowing the track to breathe once again, which I love about Scumocracy; the tempo changes are surgically precise. “Weapons of the Damned” brings some Cancer to the proceedings, think Death Shall Rise and Sins of Mankind era. This is OSDM done absolutely right.

Last up is the “Lust of Us” it’s not exactly a sexy track, it’s slow-burning, and then boom! Blast beats show up briefly, and they make the song that much more devastating. This is the best way to end an album like this. No frills, just honest and savage meat and potatoes Death Metal that will have you banging your head against the concrete for all the right reasons.

If you like those bands I mentioned (even Left to Die) then you’ll be happy as a cannibal in a mass grave. Plus, these guys are apparently from Italy, and we all know that great things come from Italy. So go get it!

Terrestrial Hospice have been in existence since 2018 and have three full-length albums (including this one) Indian Summer Brought Mushroom Clouds (2020) and Caviary to the General (2023). Neither of which I have heard, so I’m going in blind here.

Omnicide: Chapter I starts off subtly enough. It’s a bit gentle, lulling you into a false sense of security. Then “Phosphasc Salvation” hits like a ton of bricks with a nice acoustic guitar intro that goes on for a solid two-minutes before a very Bathory “Destroyer of Worlds”-ish track begins to beat you and that’s before the blasts kick in, it strides along pretty confidently. There’s some epic shit going on around the six-minute mark, when this totally unrelated riff comes out of nowhere and elevates the song to this two-minute level for the solo.

Omnicide: Chapter I pours on the atmosphere like a black rain. “The Couloir of Despair” and “Call of the Void” bring to mind more of a Bathory meets Dimmu Borgir Black Metal attack. Whereas “Serpents in the Grass” and “Menace” hover on the cusp of Behemoth and Gorgoroth. I can picture that fancy chef guy sprinkling the band influences all over this album and Terrestrial Hospice make their sound not overly derivative of their peers. Which is a good thing because this album could have been horrible and not make me want to listen to it ever again.

“Depraver (Black Invocation)” has a lot of that atmosphere that I was talking about. It’s hard-hitting, and that’s really all you can want from a hellish blasphemy. The production could have benefited from a bit more emphasis on the drums in that they are sort of buried in the mix and when we’re talking about Inferno on drums, they need to be loud as fuck.

“Drowning Spirit” and “The Gospel of Obedience” finish the album with two elite flourishes. Both go heavy on the ambiance, and ratchet the brutality up for the last hurrah. All in all, I’d say that Terrestrial Hospice has done a super solid job with Omnicide Chapter 1, as it doesn’t reinvent anything; it’s good on its own merit.

So if you enjoy Gorgoroth, Dimmu Borgir and even some Thunderbolt, then you should trample orphans to make sure you get this album.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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