★★★☆ Long live Overkill Incorporated! Their latest product is just as ferocious as any before it. The songwriting on this album aims less for coherent songwriting and more for fun thrashy moments… and the trade-off works remarkably well. Also, of particular note to me: D.D. Verni’s bass tone is just as coppery as ever, but the way that the mix has dialed in his mids and low end is gonna be hard to improve upon. See the rest here
★★★☆ Now this is some tasty doom! This sounds like a cross between Candlemass, Ihsahn, and Tom G. Warrior. Heavy to be sure, but also interesting just when the relentless pressure starts to get a bit repetitive. Shreddy riffs all over the place. Also, Finnish has got to be one of the uglier languages to scream. See the rest here
★★★☆ It would take a PhD in Djent Studies to correctly identify this album as Monuments and not TesseracT. But there’s something refreshing in the way that the band double down on their jerky tendencies, while putting down more layers than ever before. Also, Monuments definitely throw down the heavy when they feel like it. See the rest here
★★★☆ I’m loving the mix of sensibilities on this brutal death metal album: the punky blitzkrieg approach (most of the songs on here are under 2 minutes each), the Death-by-way-of-Gorguts technicality, and above all the dark heaviness that permeates the whole thing. This is a guaranteed headbanger, a must-listen. See the rest here
★★★☆ While this is still very recognizably ETIDcore, they have somehow permuted the goofiness of “Ex Lives” for a more focused, surprising, and interesting sophistication on this album. None of the band’s aggression of missing; instead, they let in a little seawater for extra flavor. The result is an album that more or less works, and works hard, for its incendiary 31 minutes. See the rest here
★★★☆ This is one of the most interesting things I’ve heard this year so far, somewhere between The Jesus Lizard, The Ocean, Filter, The Melvins, Zombi, Fantômas… or just hovering around The Black Keys, once those guys grow up and develop a serious problem with black tar heroin. This album is a controlled, snarling exploration, one that rewards repeated listenings even with its seemingly lo-fi pretensions. See the rest here
★★★☆ This band have their feet planted in two camps. The first, their Black Dahlia Murder brand of death metal, dominates the first half of the album, in a way that feels familiar (almost to the point of forgettability). But the second half of the album gives way to more of their progressive tendencies, reminiscent of The Faceless. See the rest here
★★★☆ This is a bizarrely great, or greatly bizarre, album. To write it off as a lead guitarist’s solo wankfest is premature and a disservice. If anything, it’s more a showcase of Marty’s omnivorous tendencies, as he deftly through the many styles of his long and storied career. Through it all, there’s sick guitarwork of course… but to focus on that would be to miss the equally deft hand that Marty uses in his arrangements. See the rest here
★★★☆ This album is brutal like an industrial accident. Something like a cross between Decapitated and Exodus, the thrashy death metal on here is unshy, well-produced, and above all punishing. For me, this rivals Vader’s last album “Welcome To The Morbid Reich” (if anything, that album has slightly more memorable moments, but the overall effect is better on “Tibi Et Igni.”) See the rest here
★★★☆ I’m not sure I’m in love with the lo-fi production ethic going on with this album. On the other hand, a case could be made that the metal herein is so fucking intense that mere mortals wouldn’t be able to cope otherwise. This is Enabler’s most ambitious release to date, a pyroclastic flow of hardcore violence that only the most jaded can resist. See the rest here
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