The Steve Rathbone (7000 Dying Rats) led project, joined at times by the likes of Larry Herwig (Pelican), Chris Wozniak (Serpent Crown), Nate Olp (Demiricous), and others, kicked out 3 kickass albums and 1 DVD of pure metal that mixed thrash, sludge, black, and death metal into a battle vest-clad, testosterone-fueled ball of metal fuckery. They even found one of their songs (“Warlord” from 2010s Evil Power on a Tony Hawk video game.

But after Evil Power, the band broke up and took an extended hiatus until 2026, where Rathbone and Wozniak, now joined by Sanford Parker (Buried at Sea, ex- Minsk, ex-Nachtmystium) on bass, re-entered the fray to bring some no frills, no gimmick, no trends, no bullshit metal back into the scene.

The 30 direct as fuck minutes on I Hail I, as with the band’s back catalog, does not fuck about. It’s a burly, tumbling mix of styles that just encompasses all types of metal from grindcore, hardcore, to Celtic Frost, to Entombed’s Wolverine Blues, to fellow Chicago vets Cianide or Jungle Rot, Crowbar, Neurosis, and everything in between.

Rathbone’s gruff shout and the filthy guitars keep things extreme as the trio kicks out 9 tracks (and a sort of spoken word interlude) of unpolished, untriggered, unabashed chaos. It’s dirty, it has blast beats, it has slow churning grooves, it does everything a grizzled old metal head would want. Oh, and it’s all about Greek mythology, too. Fuck yeah! (*throws the horns up*).

You get the urgent gallop and stomp of the opener “Emperor of Dis”, the rumbling title track,  the massive groove of “Saturnus Reign”, the more blackened “Family Tree”, and the pure doom/sludge crawl of 7-minute closer “Tartarus Apocalypse”, and like there infleucnces- everything in between.

Dad’s? – You really wanna show your burgeoning metalhead offspring what real fucking metal was really like 16 years ago, not the metalcore/deathcore explosion at the time? This is fucking it.

Yeah, this is real Dadcore.™

Mastering the Disease is the band’s fourth album, and Stephen Reichelt once again joins in on bass guitar. We also get guest vocals from James Lee (Face of Oblivion/Pathology) on the song “Blood Prints” and Danny Lawson (Usurper) for “Pupils of Insularity”. The band was looking for a drummer who could capture Paul’s latest and greatest vision, and for this album, enter none other than Marco Pitruzzella (Six Feet Under, Anomalous, Sleep Terror, ex-Vile, ex-The Faceless, ex-Brain Drill). Marco had a good ‘ole rock n rolling fun time recording the newest Six Feet Under. Now was he able to let loose like his gravity blasting bad ass self-did with Brain Drill? No. Did Paul unleash the beast that is Marco, on this latest album? You bet your ass he did!

“Swelling Revulsion” starts things off with a little feedback, then with some maniacal start and stop drumming and Paul screaming his head off. All nice and fun until the 34-second moment. Gravity blasts, gravity blasts, gravity blasts. I will go on record as saying these are the fastest gravities I have ever heard. Faster than Brain Drill. Faster than Origin and faster than Rings of Saturn. Out of control. I was just mentioning to Paul recently that gravity blasts have gone away, and I was happy to hear them return. I just was not prepared for this onslaught. Towards the end of the song, it’s nice to hear some bass guitar strumming, which is heard throughout the release.

The title track is next. Beginning soft and quiet until the maniacal drumming returns. Fast, Faster, Fastest, than onto inhuman capabilities. More of the isolated drumming around the 1.15 mark, where it’s a fast double pounding method, is mixed in perfectly as the guitars take a back seat. Ferocious. The song slows down, and bass guitar plucking is ever-present, as the guitars take on a dissonance, not unlike that of Ulcerate. Paul has played around with dissonance before, with elements containing some later era Brutal Truth with discordant riffage and noises. The slow moments take on an almost drone-like, doomy sound. The speed returns with some weird-ass guitar soloing with terrific alternating vocals. The gravity blasting returns, and even I get tired from all the air drumming I am doing during the speedy parts.

“The Gnashing of False Teeth” has a damn good bass guitar intro and this moment resembles Godflesh. Yeah, Paul, I picked that out fast. Paul is a huge Godlfesh fan, like me. Think of Godflesh doing their doomy, depressive, discordant moments. That is what we have going on here. This is a good breather and you can feel Marco is like, Paul, come on bruh, let me loose again. The doomy drone effect erupts into a gravity blast around the 2.25 section and I swear they are even faster than the previous gravities and they go on for quite some time. Some ethereal, behind-the-scenes types of screaming than growls coming in. The abrupt speed of so slow to ungodly lightning speed, is so much fun!

“Depersonalized Realization” gets into some double pounding speed early on and varying degrees of vocalizations. The slow doomy dissonance is ever present and there are a lot of nods to Carbonized on this album. Just weird spastic blasting, weird noises, non-linear chords being strummed. This song is another example of the weirdness that is inside Gillis’ musical brain. The album, as a whole, is akin to watching the weird ass movie and one of my faves, Being John Malkovitch.

Mastering the Disease is an inhumanely creative and experimental journey into grind, doom, industrial, death metal and technical death metal. Morgue Supplier is not an easy band to just headbang to. It’s like thinking man’s metal. Paul pushes the boundaries and definitely getting Marco has been a huge advantage in this album. There are a few production, mastering issues. Songs will end with several seconds of silence before a song begins or a song will take several seconds to begin, when it’s just silence.

The production is good, however, there is no real bottom end, therefore this is very trebly sounding. The album cover is most excellent and goes wonderfully with this over-the-top sounding album. Because I listen to a lot of weird shit I really dig this album. I commend Paul for pushing the boundaries of extreme metal and also experimenting even more on his craft. This album will force you to consider, what is extreme? Utterly monstrous!!

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

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

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

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

So when the band announced their second full-length album, it was an immediate preorder, as I hoped the band would take the next step on from their almost perfect debut EP, which was just a slight step up from the EP, but didn’t quite fulfill the EPs potential.

Well, I’m both a bit happy and a bit disappointed with this album, as the band is consistent in the fact they are still treading that line between OK, and really, really good as The Ebb and Flow of Galactic Tides is a solid effort and certainly stays in line with the debut album- but again it never takes that next step to greatness, being tantilizingly short of being a truly elite band in the genre.

The 6-song, 44-minute affair has all the elements of the genre: distant black metal howls, a starry, uplifting yet and the same time somber, sense of melody, and atmosphere that canters and jangles with sparkling, and at times, wondrous riffs as heard on standout “A Phantom in Endless Night” or more mid-paced “I Carry Galaxies”, and its soaring clean chorus, and closer””Eternal Recurrence of the Same”, which d0es have a killer, melodic riff.

But as with prior efforts, nothing truly and fully grabs your attention and commands that you give repeated listens. Is it all just very…..nice? I am fine listening to the album as background music or headphones to relax before bed, but I’m never craving or fully wanting to listen to the album like I am with, say, Vallendusk. The tracks never fully peak, and sound a bit similar as the album gets to the last stanza of “Super Luminal”.

I want to really love these guys more, I really do. They, on occasion, scratch that cosmic/atmospheric black metal itch, but for now, they remain just a solid act that hasn’t quite reached their potential, yet. (I hope).

My brand of self-destructive tendencies (and mental illness!) have certainly taken me to a number of dumb and regrettable decisions in my life, make no mistake about it. I’m no stranger to the extremes of adrenaline-fueled, substance-motivated behavior. I’d dare say that it’s that proclivity for extreme behaviors that partially fuels my love for, ya know, extreme forms of music. But even my depraved, addiction-prone little brain has its limits!

So when I found out that Forcefed Horsehead and Shaving the fucking Werewolf were releasing a split? Together??

Are we sure about this??

 Allow me to briefly remind you that at helm of Shaving the Werewolf is… this guy:

I know we’re not supposed to be judging books by their covers but, some judgements are being made here – especially when the first track of the band’s half of the split is entitled (appropriately) “Smoking the Crack of Dawn,” and comes complete with the ravings of said lunatic screaming “CUT OFF MY BALLS” during the song’s devastating climactic breakdown. Mind you, before we even get to THAT, you find the man ranting about how his genitals often whisper menacingly at him. Apparently, his father also faced the same affliction, and HIS father before that so…. yeah! Go ahead and chop those puppies off, I guess! As already established, Shaving the Werewolf write music like a deranged fever dream, with the aforementioned track containing the kinds of discordant, disturbing guitar flourishes and psycho killer amusement park synths that have become the band’s hallmark, all giving their already chaotic brand of “disagreeable grindpunk” (their words) the listening experience of very quickly going fucking insane. It’s an absolute head rush that, despite better judgement, I cannot walk away from.

“Affordable Victims” keeps the pedal planted on the floor (as if the band had any brakes to begin with), opting for maximum aggression that allows no room for the listener to breath. It’s a straightforward, all-gas attack on your aural senses, with heavy nods to the likes of Converge, Botch and Agoraphobic Nosebleed, but while those bands are amongst the most aggressive and hostile to ever do it, Shaving the Werewolf exists more in a state of outright belligerence. “Complaining in Body Language” sees the band not only turning the heat up to it’s maximum level, but then ripping the thermostat off the wall, dousing it in pure ethanol, and setting it ablaze in a manic burst. Grind has always been about maximum aggression, but this band continues to somehow take it to a thoroughly unhinged extreme. Where The Dillinger Escape Plan gave the world a precise, Einstein-level mathematical approach to chaos, Shaving the Werewolf is the Ivy League valedictorian whose brain broke and now lives in a piss-soaked carboard box in Hartford’s seedier outskirts beyond the confines of Yale University. There’s a brilliant mind in there somewhere, but it’s currently churning out absolute nonsense that only Shaving the Werewolf themselves can fully understand – and that’s okay! I’m still finding it thoroughly entertaining.

Closer “Man Song” showcases the band, and indeed vocalist Ottar Skift at maybe their battiest, throwing everything at the wall from HM-2 drenched crunch, to tremolo-picked, blackened fury, to utterly destructive breakdowns, all wrapped up in a track that, so far as I can tell, is about proving one’s manhood to an abusive father through the most toxically masculine means possible. I don’t know what this man has been through, but for the love of god someone give him a hug. Make sure you’re wearing gloves, though. It’s a fitting, disturbing end that thoroughly cements the band in a league all their own. It’s batshit, it’s completely in-your-face, and I absolutely adore it.

By now, I’m sure you’re thinking “hey dummy, you did this all backwards,” and you’re right! Forcefed Horsehead does indeed kick off the front end of this EP. I can’t really explain why I opted to start with Shaving the Werewolf besides to say, once you listen to this record you’ll understand why they sorta demand your attention front-and-center, but it’s certainly not for lack of effort from the Pony Boys’ grinding attack. Indeed, the Naked Wolf  (I don’t know why we’re going with nicknames now just roll with me) are one of the few bands that could make FFHH seem tame by comparison, with opener “Promisebreaker” hardly taking things easy. The band’s more straightforward, Grinding D-Beat attack, paired with Audun Mehl’s seething, throat-tearing vitriol, is as delicate as a rabid buffalo in a live minefield (can buffalo get rabies? I digress). There’s even a distinctly blackened edge to the mayhem that makes the track cut all the more deep, giving the whole thing a thoroughly menacing and evil feel that I absolutely love.

“The Will of the Many” and the seething “Keelhaul” though, that’s where Equine Buffet really fuckin’ hits its D-Beat stride, the latter featuring some unnamed, but absolutely fucking scathing guest vocals that, along with a blistering blast attack, bring the intensity to a whole new level. It’s like Dani Filth after railing 3 back-to-back-to-back lines of coke and chasing it with a double shot of tequila, and I need more of it pronto. Both tracks hit like a goddamn heart attack and really showcase the band’s ability to go fully nuclear.

This split really ought to come with a Surgeon General’s warning, because HOLY SHIT. I feel like I need to dry out and go sober at an involuntary rehab facility for a few weeks just to get this thing out of my system. I may not have done actual crack or meth in my life, but who needs it when bands like these come together to inject this kind of absolute chaos into your veins. This one’s not for the feint of heart, but if you’re willing to take the ride, you’ll find yourself blitzed out of your mind with this absolute filth.

In other words, you’re fucking welcome.

I’ll start by digging in on my Taproot reference regarding “We Will Remain.” It’s not a bad song by any stretch and even includes an extended guitar solo section. The clean vocals on it remind me quite a bit of Stephen Richards from Taproot, but there are also some harsh vocals which sound like the vocalist has gone hoarse (not horse, as that’s a completely different animal).

I want to back track a little and go to the first track, as I will never understand why an album begins with a brief intro, then the first song, in this case “Ashes of Reality,” also has an intro spanning nearly a minute. Back-to-back intros. The vocals are mostly screams with that half-talking/half-yelling vocal style popularized in the nu metal era with bands such as Spineshank. There’s a decent galloping riff in the background, but it’s not easy to discern.

On that note, I want to briefly mention the production. It sounds like butt garbage in my headphones, but it is much better coming through speakers. It’s still not great, so I refuse to take that leap.

Oddly enough, the production is not always a distraction. However, it is on “My Insanity.” To begin with, the vocals have an almost Marilyn Manson style. Once the riff starts around a minute in, the symbol crashing overtakes everything. That section repeats nearly a minute later, then a breakdown is teased for an unnecessary amount of time just to never happen, but there’s a guitar solo instead.

Before you get your JNCOs in a twist, it’s not as bad as I am making it seem, such as “Forgotten,” which starts with an isolated bass. The riff that comes in goes along with the bass, then we have some more Taproot-esque vocals. The borderline rap vocals fit very well when they appear. These dudes obviously have a considerable amount of talent and aren’t afraid to take chances, but reality takes over at some point.

The truth of that reality is this album is not for me. I had fun with nu metal back in the late 1990’s and early 2000s, and it truly was a gateway into heavier music. Perhaps Death Assault can be that band for others. I’m going to stop short of recommending it, but if you happen to hide your frosted tips under a red, backwards Yankees hat, give it a go. There’s no issue with doing it all for the “Nookie” sometimes.

Hailing from Australia (not Norway like I originally thought) and formed in 2013, they have one other album under their belt called The Evil of Man that came out in 2019… that’s been a long minute ago, and I’ll go back and check it out later. Still, for now, I have The Great Elven War to talk about.

Constant reader! What an album this is! With a runtime of 1:09:49 it’s a big bite to chew, but it’s so epic that it doesn’t matter. There’s so much, and I mean multiple fucking elements to the songs that each one is an emotional roller-coaster. This is what Atmospheric Black Metal sounds like when you mix in the fiction of Tolkien and Martin (yes, I know that Summoning has made a career out of it. I am well aware of it, thank you very much).

First track “The Hunting Grounds” is a straight-up whip cracker. It’s pretty much right away that the Dimmu Borgir influences show up, and if I didn’t mention the vocals echoing Shagrath I’d be a shitty critic. It’s a blistering song that opens The Great Elven War with brutal intensity.

“Descendants of the Pale Moon” is where the Cradle of Filth-ish melodies creep in. There’s a cool Gehenna moment midway that elevates the track to this ridiculous level. The riffs, though… all Cradle of Filth-ish. Think of it like Cradle of Borgir or Dimmu Filth, what the fuck ever. I need to mention the keyboards at the beginning of the track and how it just brings you into its grasp; it’s ethereal and enrapturing. It’s even a tad bit Borknagar if you listen for the Quintessence moment at the 3:17 point.

“The Beast of Beauclair” is one of my favorite tracks. It’s completely unrelenting and just a continuous body blow from the pounding drums. The 2:30 point sees a bit of a martial pacing that reminds me a bit of Dark Requiems… and Unsilent Massacre by Hecate Enthroned. When the 5:30 mark hits, it becomes a gloomy, emotionally charged segue into a hypnotic battle hymn.

“Servants of Sauron” has a For All Tid vibe, and that’s not unwelcome at all. There are these badass flourishes around the 3-3:38 point that are diabolically well done.

This is a phenomenal album, the production is stellar, and the artwork is fucking sick. What more can I do to convince you to go out and brave the frigid cold so that you can own this nasty bastard?

“The North Remembers” starts with some light keyboards before the jogging drums get going; it’s a colorful centerpiece for The Great Elven War and runs headlong into “Horns of the Buffira.” What is a Buffira? I have no fucking idea, but the song fucking rips along with suitable bombastic delivery, and that’s all I need to know.

“The Great Elven War” the song is fucking epic. I’ve recently gotten back into playing Skyrim, and this album is the best soundtrack for the game that I have found. There are tempo changes galore, and as it ends, “Wrath of the High Heavens” takes its place to finish you off… The end is utterly mesmerizing, and this is another album that I just listened to on repeat and am still digging it.

Apparently, Elves are horrible bastards. At any rate, The Great Elven War is a blistering sophomore effort, and that’s all you need to know. You should get the album and find out for yourself, like now. You’re already on your phone…

For the hordes that love Dimmu Borgir, Old Man’s Child, and Cradle of Filth, you know who you are. The fog-kissed mountains are calling you!

Formed by members of some acts I have not heard of like Mortal Filth, Wartroll amd Horrorborn, the band appears to be the brainchild of Valira Pietrangelo, as she does the vocals, lyrics, guitars, and piano/keyboards. She is joined by Ron Graves on Bass and Nick Brown on drums.

I don’t know what her other projects sound like, but Vesseles has some clear influences from the likes of early/mid Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth, Agathodaimon, Ancient, and Dismal Euphony. That’s to say, very theatrical, almost gothic, symphonic black metal from the 90s, and they do it quite well.

They make no bones about originality, preferring to lean pretty hard into the genre’s tropes, especially the excellent and heavily present piano work from Pietrangelo (i.e., start of “Home”, “Perpetual Chasm of Black Mirrors”), which is front and center throughout. The production is thick and glossy, there are a few decent clean vocals, and there’s the requisite atmospheric piano interlude (“They Wither”)- it’s all here in dramatic, vampyric, costumed glory.

The album takes a couple of tracks to get going, but around “The Beneath” and the title track, the album really takes off with some strong songwriting to back all the symphonic, grandiose bombast and theatre. Tracks like “Until They Are Dust”, “Scriptures Etched Into the Mind’s Pillars”, and the excellent, more restrained closer “This is Not Home” all could have come from any of the bands above from the late 90s and early 2000s.

This, along with Saille’s upcoming Forebode,  and upcoming Ruins of Faith and  Nazghor releases, looks to make sure 2026 continues where 2025 left off with some excellent symphonic black metal.

For those unfamiliar, the band began as a more metalcore/progressive metal instrumental act before adding vocals and evolving into a melodic death metal project with very clear ties to the likes of Arsis and, in our opinion, the 00s metalcore act The Human Abstract. And all of those influences are still in play for the all-important follow-up album, maybe even more so.

The shredding, neoclassical backbone is still incredibly present, and very well done as two new guitarists (Steve Bacakos and Mike Hisson) from the debut. appear to have upped the shreddage even more from the debut. Add in some very strong songwriting, especially in the album’s second half, and even a couple of flamenco-inspired and orchestral flourishes (“Procession”, “Gallows Hymn”), and the recipe is here for a killer album avoiding the sophomore slump.

Admittedly, the album takes a few tracks to warm up and really grab me, but when it does, around “Wage of Exile”, where the sweep arpeggios are hot and heavy reminding me (as they did on thier debut) heavily of tracks like“Mea Culpa” and “Vela, Together We Await the Storms” from The Human Abstract‘s Nocturne album, t really locks in. The same can be said of “The Racking”, the moodier, groovier “Crown Crusher”, and “Citadel”, which closes this fine sophomore album on a surprisingly uplifting note.

Power Metal? Deathcore? Prog Rock?

Of course not. It sounds like Fucking Amon Amarth.

I say that with a caveat. Relatively unknown Aussie Vocalist Clint Williams brings a blacker, more melodic death metal rasp to the proceedings, which carries over a little of the project’s entire sound; so to speak, a slightly more melodic black metal-ish version of Amon Amarth. Take that as you will.

The 5-song, 25-minute taster covers all the familiar Amon Amarth bases from raging urgent numbers like “Storms Rage” and the more somber title track, and tracks that do a little of both like “Mound of Stones”. All carrying those ever-so familiar Amon Amarth strains of melody and layering, which have a slight Viking Edge.

It’s crisply produced, if a bit less chunky than Amon Amarth, but it’s still very familiar, as you’d expect from this lineup that will hopefully make Fimbul Winter more than a one-EP affair.

Not a bad thing, but the band’s style of chuggy, sometimes Bolt Thrower-y death metal has all but gone, in favor of full-on symphonic black metal. Not kidding. Costumes and all.

And they actually pulled the shift off very well, with a sound that now compares to the likes of recent bands like Argesk– so leaning a little into the Hecate Enthroned, early Cradle of Filth sound. And this is immediately prevalent on the vocals of ‘Silence’, who has adopted a hawkish shriek akin to Dani Filth and Jon Kennedy (RIP).

He uses a deeper, gruffer bellow here and there (i.e, “The Devil’s Verdict”, “Nailed and Forgotten”), as Kennedy did with Hecate, but when you throw in the full-on keyboards, tremelo-picked riffs, and more blasphemous/anti-religious black metal themes rather than death metal ones, they are a completely different-sounding band. “Valak Regnat” is the only track that seems to have some death metal remnants, as far as the bare-bones riffage, but even then, it’s layered with synths.

But I’m still digging it, as they knock out some bangers such as “Gods Falling Kingdom”, “Lucifer’s Dawn”, “Death Hunts Us All”, ” Monument Without Fears”, and even a cover of members’ former band Atrium Noctis, “In Memoriam Moriendi” to end the solid album on a moodier note.

The band is made up of Mike Dreher on bass/vocals (backing), Ryan Donato on drums, Tony Barhoum on guitars, Vocals (backing), and the band welcomes back Ryan Taylor on vocals/guitars. The band incorporates many elements of brutal thrash mixed in with some death metal moments, but by and large, this is aggressive and at times high velocity brutal thrash metal. Demolition Hammer is still the main influence here, with those crushing bone bone-shattering riffs and groove. Condition Critical is like a blast beat version of Demo Hammer. Degeneration Chamber is nine songs in 33 minutes.

With no time to spare, the band opens with “Wretched Aggression”. The Holy Shit moment is from the get-go. Isolated guitar riff, then a furious thrashing gallop before the blast beat erupts and the band is on fire!!! Vocals, music, and the rhythm section are on point. Even the slower groove early on is aggressive. Get ready for that isolated guitar riff, then the cymbal hits, and that furious thrash gallop. 1990 called and it wants that beat back mofos. Nicely crafted guitar solos over the thrashing moments. The guitar riff at the 2.55 section, with one bass drum being hit, signifies the second Holy Shit moment. The bass guitar, ever so prominent, guides the listener to a monster groove. No doubt, if the band has plans of playing live, they need to open their sets with this song. Ferocious opener!

Bring on “Deconstructive Horrors”, the next song. Starting with a monstrous groove and killer drum rolls, the song eventually picks up a nice thrash gallop pace. This is very headbang worthy of your time, then BOOM!!!!!!! Right into a blast beat, then back into the galloping. Ryan spews out his signature vocals, which are filled with a lot of anger. The song gets back into that heavy groove moment. The galloping continues into a killer guitar solo, then back into more galloping, then right into a sick blast beat. Intense ending!

“Postmortal Simulation” was a single released for this album. It has a nice opening guitar riff with prominent bass guitar mixed in. This opening groove makes me understand why the band released this song first. This song will be a staple in the band’s set for as long as they’re around. This opening will cause sinkhole slams and circle pits all damn day. After about ninety seconds of this groove, the thrash galloping erupts, equipped with a tight little blast beat placed perfectly. This song is intense, in its tempo shifts, and one minute you’re headbanging and the next you’re 2-steppin’ in the pit, picking up change! The gang vocals are present on this song and add that extra! The groove once again returns, and the pace picks up. Catchy and tasty riffs.

“Psychological Epidemic” has such a catchy main guitar riff, and the thrashing galloping attack is immediate. The blast beat soon comes in and is one of the fastest blasts on the album – o,h it’s fast AF, dear reader! Ryan spends some time screaming his head off, as if someone did him wrong. It’s great when he spews out “Slow and Brutal Death”. The guitar solo and thrashing gallop then come in perfectly timed. We are then treated to some groove, then galloping and brutal AF blasting with Ryan, then holding out a killer scream. Somehow, he called Tom Araya, from Slayer, and got some pointers on reaching those highs, as Tom used to be capable of. Think “Angel of Death”, opening scream, for reference on what Ryan is going for on this song.

The rest of Degeneration Chamber is scorching as well. The album cover is on par with their previous albums and is well done. The music is catchy, heavy, and as much as it is brutal the melodies and harmonies are ever-present. If you loved their other albums, you will love this too. This may even be a tad more aggressive than their other albums. Condition Critical is an excellent band, and I am hopeful they do some touring and perhaps I’ll catch them and do some 2-steppin’ at the show. This album is not for the faint of heart!!!

After a bunch of mid-paced tunes, “Nadir (No Consent)” picks up the pace, again, more of that Goatwhore blackened death thrashing speed. The gallop at the 50-second mark is terrific, and you’re going to want to hold up the metal horns on this part. The song slides right into a mid-paced, double bass-heavy groove, before that blackened death thrashing madness erupts. The vocals are enunciated well, and he has a pissed off tone to his style – really well done. The mid-paced section allows for the rhythm section to shine. These moments would be quite a lot of fun to witness in a live environment. Scorching song and a lot of fun. There are some nods to Skeletonwitch as well, so that is a plus in my book. Talk about a band that has not released an album in forever – come on Skeletonwitch – what’s going on??

“A Séance” has a ferocious opening moment, and the speed and intensity, although never getting into blast beat territory, are pretty damn intense. The galloping madness afterwards is absolutely catchy as hell, and as I mentioned earlier, this production is amazing. Some nifty drum rolls are all over the place on this song, and he hits those cymbals as if they done him wrong. This song truly sounds like Goatwhore, and the blackened death thrashing intensity never lets up on the accelerator. Dejan lets out some excellent screams and growly vocals.. About midway through the song, we are greeted with an atmospheric slow part. Check out the guitar harmonies in this section. This moment stretches almost the distance until the fast section returns, and boom – this song is a favorite of mine for 2025.

Miseria was being touted as a black metal release, until I delved further into the album, and Shadows incorporates thrash, death, and even some stylistic influences not far removed from Midnight. The organic production adds a warmth and natural sound to their menace. There are many catchy moments throughout this album, and as far as debut albums go, for 2025, this may be the best. I am very much looking forward to future releases from Shadows.

So when I got an email from Moscow’s Renunciation, asking us to cover their second album, Make Babylon Great Again, I checked the band’s music out and was kinda blown away.

As their core, Renunciation, who are comprised of veterans from multiple Russian acts like Humaniac, Skylord (who are seriously killer), Instorm (who I covered waaaay back in 2013), and others, play a form of technical, melodic, blackened death metal. As a starting point, think modern Hypocrisy, but with the intensity cranked to 11, with a heavy, shreddy dash of old Children of Bodom, then add a little more technical death metal like and even an orchestral flourish or two akin to Soreption.

That gets you in the ballpark, but a lot is going on here. From the hawkish screeches of Demether Grail (which come close to getting grating Ill admit), the super shreddy, Alexi Laiho-inspired guitar work of Lexey Kotov, to the unpredictable, complex song structures that still somehow remain both catchy and frenetically impressive.

For a snapshot of the band’s impressive all-encompassing sound, check out blistering opener “Apex of Frustration”,  which is Hypocrisy on bath salts, and the 7th track “Idols and Ideals”, where choppy, stuttering riffs collide with Bodom-esque melodies and leads in a kaleidoscope of expert musicianship.

But some other elements are going on, such as the Arabic vibe and Saxophone in the title track, the more controlled stagger of “Shiva Invictus”, , or the 8th track “Mandaean Principle”, which is a total ripper of a song, bordering on grindcore, with more of a focus on shredding, complex riffs, vicious melodies, and a random techno dance beat.

Closer “Неизбежность” is a bit of an outlier (maybe a cover song?), as it only has moments of frenzied shreddage amid a darker, moodier overall vibe and some climactic clean folky vocals. But still, an intense, impressive and expertly played album.

A great debut album makes a statement, a stern fist to the face of a genre established years ago, while also attempting to cement the band in the annals of Black Metal’s illustrious existence.

Lenax play straightforward, no frills Black Metal. Hailing from the kudzu covered state of Tennessee (Nashville to be precise) they released a slew of singles starting in 2023, an EP called Purity and then a few more singles… until now.

Infection kicks off properly with “Worship Hymn” and it’s here that the ‘fuck yeah’ moments start: this blistering riff leading into some sick blasting and it takes off from there, delivering a very chilly Black Metal track.

Infection has a 1^st and 2^nd wave of Norwegian Black Metal feel to it, reminiscent of early Watain, and some Cradle of Filth-ish melodies creep into “Leeches”, while “Chains” has a grimier Black and Roll center after a flurry of blasts.

The production by Ilarion Ivanenko and Øystein Brun (Borknagar) gives Infection an organic sound; the drums hit hard as fuck, the guitar tone is on point for what’s going on, it really does the music justice.

Lenax are at their most menacing when they slow down and cut grooves in the earth on “Crossroads Black”, personal favorite “Hive Mind Apocalypse” with its earth-shaking heaviness and it’s followed by the Gorgoroth-ish punch of “We are Legion”.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect from Lenax. Then again, I never know what to expect anymore… so there’s that.

I digress because “Plague Bringer” is a vicious little 3:56 minute Black Thrash epic followed by the killer “Overdrive” but it’s “Throne of the Forsaken” that steals the fucking show. It crawls with malicious intent, the guitar ripping with a bit of a Borknagar feeling circa Quintessence… but then it ends.

So what do you do when an album as good as Infection, ends? You hit play again or just let it rotate; which is what I did again and again.

Verdict? This is a fun as fuck album, and it echoes the ravaging spirit of Norwegian Black Metal with some Nashville flair in the mix. Definitely for people who like Borknagar, Watain and Cradle of Filth. Go get it!

Further digging revealed that this used to be a one-man project with Jay Valena, who served some time in the international folk metal conglomerate, Folkearth, back in the day. For this release, he is joined by guitarist Rashid Nadjib.

Hollow Fangs is 5 lengthy songs covering 41 minutes, and is pretty solid atmospheric/melodic black metal. I can’t quite put my finger on who they remind me of, although they certainly fall into that Wolves in the Throne Room, Agalloch, Deafheaven, Alda,  and more recently A Flock Called Murder ballpark. However, not fully, as they are less atmospheric and don’t do quite as much build-up, interludes, or acoustics, as they pretty well focus on more blistering, but still melodic riffs. 

And the riffs, as I said earlier, are familiar but also a bit unique, which is a credit to the duo. But certainly, as I heard them and was trying to identify a comparison (I know, it’s my reviewing crutch), I found myself genuinely enjoying many of them. For example, opener “Prismatic Reason” has an array and variety of really good riffs from start to finish.

“Bernalillo Sunrise” has a tough act to follow and is a little more direct and purely Scandinavian-style black metal, as is the more teeth-bearing riff that arises in “Psychotischism”, even though it hs a more moody back end.

Another one of those enjoyable melodic but hard to nail down riffs starts “Fragments”, especially with its shrill, jangly mid-section (Liturgy?) before closer “To Kiss The Viper’s Fang” gets off to a pretty vicious start. It does have one of the album’s rare, longer acoustic/atmospheric moments, but it ends the album on a nice, relaxed note. 

“Enûma Elish Ilū” is a short intro, which to me, adds not a whole lot, until “Jinx” erupts, and it’s clear the band has the main components intact of 90s death metal. Brian’s vocals sound as good as ever, and Erik Shultek’s drums have a very organic sound; however, the mix on his snare is hellaciously loud. Lief Larson has some quality guitar riffing happening. Jason Hellman has the bass swinging around every so often, and Matt Holtz is still listed as playing guitar and bass, perhaps? There are some cool guitar solos and riffing, having a bit of a melodic and ethereal edge. The double bass drums sound terrific.

“Akhara Aakasa” is a 45-second intro before “Renumeration” erupts with the smashing drums, then the death/thrash erupts with a plethora of growls. The blast beat erupts then, and given the organic sound of the drums, at times, the production of the drums come across as a rehearsal sound, not a knock on the drumming, just mentioning the production is more jam style focused, imo. The isolated guitar riffing at the 1.50 mark, then right into that speedy gallop, is a killer headbanging moment that the band again repeats with a cool guitar solo over this part. Brian’s vocals are coming across as similar to Tardy/Mameli, back in their heyday. This song is a lot of fun and very catchy. I’m going to skip over mentioning all the song intros and just get to the songs themselves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rsj8JDaCVY&list=RD8Rsj8JDaCVY&start_radio=1&pp=ygULdmlvZ3Jlc3Npb26gBwE%3D

“Pummeled” is the perfect song name. It begins with a great early 90’s death thrashing beat, and then we are treated to a bass solo, in the very beginning, mind you, and that bass guitar is very prominent on this song. After the slow down then right into a quick blast beat. The song erupts into a slower moment and sounding a bit poly-rhythmic in nature, which is pretty cool. Then right into another blast beat, then returning to the great gallop, before that cool ass off-kilter moment returns. I could see a pit during this moment erupting quite violently.

“Light Harvester” ends the album with a great opening guitar riff, which smashes into a blast beat. More galloping and headbanging moments occur alongside the blast beats. There are guitar solos over the blast beat, towards the end of the song, with a very cool old school guitar squealing moment. The production of the drums, as previously mentioned, really makes the drums sound loose on this song. Depending on your preference, you may or may not enjoy this. The double bass drums do sound excellent.

Thaumaturgic Veil is a fun death metal album by Viogression. There are many melodic and ethereal dream-like moments, which go along great with this album cover. The viciousness and pummeling moments are still as ever present. I feel that if the production was tightened up then there would not be moments such as when the blasting occurs, that snare has a tendency to drown certain aspects out of the other instruments. I respect the band for staying true to their 90’s sound as well as incorporating a variety of various sounds, and moments to push the band forward, in the scene.

Imperium Delirium is the band’s 5th self-released effort, their third after dropping the Halo video game-inspired themes from their first two efforts, Reclaimer and Primordial. 2019s superb Melancholy really put the band on the map outside Halo-themed music, tackling mental health and depression. However, its follow-up Elegy, despite a few killer tracks, was a bit of a step back, following Whitechapel’s The Valley and Kin into more brooding territory, including vocalist Ben Duerr trying his hand at some semi sung parts. And it didn’t quite work for me.

Well, akin to Whitechapel and thier latest fucking blistering return to form, Hymns in Dissonance earlier this year, Shadow of Intent have stormed back with a return to the far more brutal, techincal and symphonic releases that came earlier, and the end result is arguably the best of thier career, and one that will for sure be at or near the top of the genres best albums. Also, Duerr appears to have given up on the clean vocals singing (other than a couple of narrations and more shouted vocals later on in the album).

Much like “Farewell” opener Elegy with an absolute scorcher of a track, “Prepare to Die”, comes out of the gate hard, with epic choirs and synths, and although Fleshgod Apocalypse‘s Francesco Ferinni no longer helps out, guitarist Chris Wiseman certainly learned something, as his orchestral compositions, as many in the style this year are downright epic. And like “Farewell”, it is one of the best tracks the band has penned.

And Imperium Delirium contains several of those, and the band is absolutely locked in. Now, the singles the band released are all fucking great- not a single weak one, such as “Infinity of Horrors”, “Flying the Black Flag”, “Mechanical Chaos”, and “Feeding the Meatgrinder” (with George ‘Corpsegrinder” Fisher helping out). But they smartly saved the album’s best cuts until the album’s release. As well as the opener, the bludgeoning “They Murdered Sleep” and personal favorite “Vehement Draconian Vengeance” are rife with more simply elite orchestration, savage blackened riffs, and breakdowns. It’s truly say ‘wow’ out loud, jaw-dropping stuff.

Then, the sweeping Middle Eastern start of “The Facets of Propaganda” as well as “No Matter the Cost” and the 7 1/2 minute closing title track show the more restrained, moody side of Elegy, but pull it off a little more successfully (i.e., no singing). Especially the sprawling title track with a perfect blend of blistering blackened orchestration, burly breakdowns, and a perfect closeout. It’s the most varied, lengthy, complete, and involved track the band has penned since the likes of “The Tartarus Impalement” from Reclaimer or “The Diadact’s Will” from Primordial..  The only track I don’t see myself revisiting is the 5-minute instrumental “Apocalypse Canvas”, but the band has always dabbled with instrumentals- at least it’s not 10 minutes like “The Dreaded Mystic Abyss” from Melancholy.

That all said, I’d love the band to revisit their sci-fi video game roots. Could you imagine if they tackled something like Gears of War, Destiny or Mass Effect?????

A lot of challengers to the genre’s throne have surfaced this year and last year; Assemble the Chariots, Worm Shepherd, A Wake in Providence, Kneel Before the Death and mainly Ov Ruin and Sin Deliverance (whose Eternal Lament and Universe of Nightmares were my favorite albums in the style respectively, so far), etc, but Shadow of Intent have firmly shown they are one of the top dogs, and if Lorna Shore even misstep a little on thier upcoming effort, Shadow of Intent will supplant them as the true kings of the style.

Coming in hot as a meteor shower and off the heels of 2023’s To the Existence of Light,  The Philosophy of Eternal Recurrence is their third release and it’s a huge leap forward for the band, in terms of production, instrumentation and incredible flesh-flaying intensity.

I’m not bullshitting either, there’s a hunger for blood with this one. “Mistime Their Entry into the Mausoleum” acts as the calm before the storm. It echoes at a somber pace, and as it trails of,f “Walking Under the Torches” roars to life. It’s unrelenting, hitting a Dimmu Borgir flourish throughout with some killer ambient riffing over the blasts.

“A Voice Full of Menace” goes full force Gorgoroth with this bombastic salvo scattered with furious blasting. They throw in a clean interlude at the mid-track mark, but it’s over quickly. “Gates to Hades” has this martial pacing before the blasts rain down like steel shards.

Nirrojim and Thorner sound absolutely vicious on this album, capturing the second wave of Norway’s scene while injecting their own sadistic touches to the mix.

“Reckoning in Blood” does this well, managing to be the rawest track, smack dab in the middle of the record. I think it’s my favorite track, and next up is the Enthroned-ish (yes, I know they’re not fucking Norwegian… they’re Belgian and I’m contrasting the two) “The Wizard of Evergreen Coast”. This track channels Towards the Skullthrone of Satan so well, its unsettling and seething rage is barely restrained.

“The Mist” is the spooky Blackened Death dungeon crawler that sets The Philosophy of Eternal Recurrence apart from its predecessors. I love how the song is laid out, and it rips headlong into the final track “Eternal Recurrence,” an almost Marduk-ish beater circa Those of the Unlight or Nightwing.

What we have here, friends and neighbors, is a blaster piece of a Black Metal album. The production is louder and rawer than on To the Existence of Light, whereas that album had some killer moments. I think with this being an independent release, they were able to deliver a more Panzerfaust than Soulside Journey sound on this album and are better for it.

For you black hearted fans of Darkthrone, Marduk, and early Dimmu Borgir, get this album!

Seriously though, shitty pirate accent aside. Rum Runners are pretty fucking good at the crazy sub-genre known as Pirate Metal. I used to just singularly worship Alestorm, and that was it. But I want something more… Pirate-y, and when I saw the promo, I was like, hey! That’s right up my Galleon!

Wreck and Revere sounds fantastic and is a ridiculously good EP. Three songs, that’s it; I mean, they have been gone since 2015’s The Quest for Mead EP. Now they’ve resurfaced from the depths.

Beginning with a suitable bombastic delivery and triumphant horn, and some drums, the opening riffing for “In Siren’s Wake”. It’s a ripping track, Cap’n Rawpipes sounds a bit like Attila Dorn from Powerwolf especially in the chorus, but that’s not the limit of his range as is proven on second track “The Glory Is Mine” it’s a bit more of a Death Metal inspired song, Thrashing like a prisoner being keelhauled.

Wreck and Revere is a lot of things: a bit of Black Metal, a bit of Folk Metal, and even striding Power Metal. According to the press release, they’re anticipating an album release sometime in 2026, so I’m going to be watching for that for sure.

Final track “Hull of Your Mind” starts off with some System of a Down “Chop Suey” drums to introduce the song but it goes hard, as I hoped it would; guitarists Captain Rustpaws and Cap’n Saltyhands play grab ass with each other’s playing and it makes this album unbelievably fun to listen to.

I feel like I need a cigarette after listening to Wreck and Revere, it’s that good; a really rousing comeback that has me looking forward to their future. If you like Korpiklaani, Ensiferum and Amon Amarth this album needs to be in your wheelhouse me hearties!

Throughout the album, you have your Speed (not that kind) songs and your Christian (not that type) songs. I’ll start with my favorite songs from Christian, as they were the first to stand out. The one that hooked me is quite a bit into the album, which is “Jaws of the Abyss.” The symphonics/ keys build an atmosphere, and Christian’s scream shatters it. His death growls are in top shape, but the syrupy clean/growl tradeoffs in the pre-chorus took me back to the first time I heard Pitch Black Progress, and damn is the actual chorus absurdly catchy. At over 6 minutes, it’s one of the longer songs, but worth every moment. There’s a reason it took two guys to replace him in Scar Symmetry.

“Bloodline Artifice” is another Christian song, which begins the album. It’s a scorcher. I’m confident those higher registered death screeches are Josh, which are very well done. Something very subtle in a lot of tracks is the symphonic background, although I did previously mention it. If you’ve not heard Buried Realm previously, the guitar solos are excellent and prevalent, along with the riffs in general. The chorus, with a minute and a half left, is beautiful and gives way to another short, but excellent guitar lead.

Moving into the Speed songs, of which there are two, the best of those is “Where the Armless Phantoms Glide Pt.II.” The gallop is perfect for his vocals as it sounds out of the Natural Born Chaos era, matching its ferocity. The trade-off from what I presume is Josh and Bjorn works well. Surprisingly, there are no clean vocals from Bjorn on this one.

However, the first of his tracks (I pulled some Quentin Tarantino shit), “Human Code,” also doesn’t have any. Well, kind of. They’re of that shouting variety, where it’s almost singing since it’s tuneful but more aggressive. You’ll know when you hear it. The chorus is catchy regardless, and makes me think Mr. Dummer’s influence is from the previously mentioned Soilwork era. Of course, that’s the preference of most. Without the clean vocals, I’m certain you could already tell this is another banger with a heavy, fast, driving riff meant for the stage.

The new Buried Realm album is so full of bangers that it could compete with the boss’s native cuisine. If you don’t find this album enjoyable, I’ll just assume you don’t like or listen to metal. That’s fine, but you’re in the wrong place. Josh Dummer, along with his special guests, has crafted a truly special melodic death metal album that everyone should have on their playlist.

This self-titled 4-song ep has Nick Temoshok – Guitars, Drum programming and Cassiopeia on Vocals to provide us with the brutality.  I kind of dig the pen and ink album cover, It conjured up supernatural lyrical elements and the music honestly surprised me a lot.

“Sunbeat” begins with a terrific guitar tone.  The production for this debut independent release is excellent.  After the opening guitar and drums (which are programmed) moment ,the song gallops with a variety of dual vocal tones, ranging from screaming to gutturals and some killer guitar sweep action.  The song gets into a blast beat equipped with nice guitar harmonies over some of these moments.  The killer deep gutturals at around the three-minute mark, when the song slows, is quite brutal.  There are some guitar solos, and the dual back and forth of the highs and low really sound as if the band has separate singers.

“Hekatomb of Malevolence” starts a bit similar to the EP opener with the guitar and drums and the way the instrumentation is set up.  The song picks up at the 36-second mark with an outstanding guitar riff.  It’s really heavy, and the stop-and-start stylized blasting comes forward.  The song slows, and those raspy vocals take center stage.  Nice guitar work with the melodies and then the blast returns, but this time it’s the bellowing deep gutturals which take center stage.  It punctuates the brutality greatly, as if Ivan “The Polish Hammer” Putski just slammed your chest apart with his double arm bash.  The drum machine programming is quite good; you kind of don’t really notice it’s a machine, especially how many live drums are programmed, to some degree, on recordings, in today’s music scene.

“A Song for Ghosts” was the single initially released for this EP, and it starts with an isolated riff before the double pounding section erupts.  Nice guitar harmonies on the slow down then those gutturals come in with the dizzying jazzy guitar picking and dual vocal action.  There is an awesome guttural growl, soon thereafter!

Alright, Chiaroscuro, I see you!!!  This is a strong EP of melodic death metal that pummels as much as it showcases some of the talent within.  I think the band needs a live drummer and also continue to write so that a full-length album is ready to go soon.

Now, to be clear Corroding Soul, the debut atmospheric black metal album from the UK’s David Lovejoy (who released quite a bit of similar material under the Sorrow Plagues moniker), contains four, 9-11 minute songs, 3 are decent, but frankly, three songs in, I wasn’t even going to review this.

It is OK, it’s clearly inspired by Deafheaven’s Sunbather as well as bands like Unreqvited, Vallendusk, Numeron, and Christian Cosentino, styled Black Metal. It’s shimmery, uplifting, emotive, jangly, and very light on the traditionally ‘Black’ side of things, other than the vocals, but it has some decent, crescendoing 6/8 tremolo riffs that cover the bases if you like the bands I just mentioned. But Black Metal purists will surely hate it.

“Tempest”, “Shadow” and “Bound” are certainly listenable, with “Tempest” having the best jangly 6/8 and mid-paced riffs of the three. It’s all laden with acoustic/keyboard/ introspective moments and certainly, Lovejoy is clearly a fan of Deafheaven’s, “Dream House, and “The Pecan Tree” songs (and Lovejoy’s voice is a dead ringer for George Clarke. It’s enjoyable, if a bit ……Nice? Wispy? Twinkly?…. even for me.

But just as I am ready to just sort of write the album off, and not put energy into reviewing something that I’m not totally into, the fourth track “Sapphire”, kicks in, and I am ready to jump online and buy the album immediately.

Listen, it’s still the same overall Deafheaven -y sound, so there’s no departure from the rest of the album, but holy fuck does Lovejoy deliver absolutely perfect, slightly more aggressive melodies and beautiful chord progressions here. After a slow acoustic build, about a minute in, the shimmery, slicing riff kicks in, and blows me away, to where I audibly say ‘WOW’ to myself. It’s 11 minutes of utter bliss, and truly one of those rare songs I don’t want to end.

If Lovejoy can build on the momentum of “Sapphire” and keep recreating its stunning prose, he might be an artist to keep an eye on in the scene that rivals Unreqvited and Woods of Desolation.

Enter World Eaters, not to be confused with the other World Eater from New Jersey, this band of World Eaters hails from Ontario; Hounds of Hell is their brand spanking new EP and dammit I like it. This is what I lovingly call ‘meat and potatoes’ Death Metal: no frills, just balls-deep aggression and crushing riffs.

With a new drummer; the core of two original members became a five-piece, Winter Stomp (drums), Adam Ujhelyi (lead vocals), Jacob Duke (guitars), and Michael Siegrist (bass, synths) all joining founding member David Gupta (guitars) PLUS adding additional gravitas is Sarafina Bortolon-Vettors (Bonnie Trash, Hand Drawn Dracula) and Piers Oolvai’s affected bass clarinet.

Alright, introductions have been made; how is the music? Burly. “What does he mean by that? Burly?” it means that the riffs are fat as fuck, the drums thrash and blast with extreme, bombastic delivery. Straight out of the gate “Armoured Spearhead” comes rising on beautiful strings and Sarafina begins a haunting monologue that gives way to that beloved chug that Bolt Thrower made so famous all those years ago. It’s an intense track and sets the tone of the album.

Coming in at 30:36 makes it the perfect EP. The second track “The Commissar Shoots” has a Benediction feel to it circa Subconscious Terror and The Grand Leveller. It’s explosive and rumbling, leaving eardrums in its wake, all shriveled and used up.

The artwork compliments of Adam Ujhelyi fits the music perfectly, grim and effectively dystopian. Hounds of Hell was mixed at Twilight Plateau and I think it sounds great, it has a bit of demo feeling that lends to the brutality, not hindering the instruments into a sloppy organization of grotesqueries,  instead allowing them to stand up on legs of steel.

“Death Korps” continues with the lumbering attack pattern with a magnificent solo making it my favorite song. “Flash of Green” is fucking killer, a satisfying throwback to the pummeling In Battle There is no Law. That raw, face-melting feeling that made early 90s Death Metal so amazing, it’s all over Hounds of Hell in the best possible way.

Ending on a powerful 8:45 minutes is “Expedition/ Tomb World” a fucking beast of a song. It makes me think of the early archeological digs around the Pyramids, and movies about mummies and ancient Egyptian culture.

As a whole, this is a culmination of songs from their various demos that have been redone for this debut EP. At the end of the day, Hounds of Hell is a great homage to the glory days of brutal WW2-inspired Death Metal a la; Hail of Bullets, Benediction, and of course Bolt Thrower. Get it from your favorite source and let the beating commence!

Druparia: “Hold My Beer”.

Seriously, first off, go check out Darkness Everywhere‘s debut album To Conquer Eternal Damnation. Then come and listen to the debut from Ohio’s Druparia (a pseudo-synonym for the blackthorn plant that plays a part in some circles of occultism and witchcraft and is composed of folks from local acts Inoculation, Mythrias, Once Flesh, Sea Biscuit, and Eternal Legacy) and then tell me they aren’t two of the best releases in the style of 2024, maybe even better than the source material, Light This City‘s Terminal Bloom and Darkest Hour‘s own Perpetual|Terminal. If you liked “The Nihilist Undone”  from that album, this is basically a whole album of that. I’d throw in some Dark Tranquillity and Arsis as well to boot.

First, David Moran is a dead ringer for early John Henry, second, the guitars of Tyler Clark and Josh Gatka deliver the same peak Darkest Hour hack ‘n’ slash melodeath, dripping with intense melody. Then add some Light This City leads and atmospherics and you have an absolutely killer album.

The River Above rips from start to finish, with 11 searing songs that are packed with sublimely executed melo-death riffs and leads. They can do fast (a whole lot of it with the likes of “Voiceless Regret”, “Bereavement”, and “Bled For Comfort”), they can do mid-paced (” Kintsugi”, “Firmament…And The Renewal“), they can do introspective (“When Cranes Return”, album ending cover of The Civil Wars’ “The Violet Hour”). They can even add some gorgeous acoustics/piano/cellos here and there to “Bereavement”, “In Repose, Descend”  and “Sever the Roots”, the latter two being arguably the best duo of back-to-back tracks of the year in the genre, in my humble opinion.

The River Above is one of those albums I listen to from start to finish, with no skips. Every single shredding, slicing riff and solo in each track hits so hard, I grin constantly. I just hope someone a Creator-Destructor Records, Prosthetic Records or 20 Buck Spin reads this and snatches these guys up, as they deserve to be on a solid label with this scorching debut album.