De Profundis — The Blinding Light Of Faith
✦✦✦✧ This feels like an updated blend of Discarnate, Sadus, and Deicide. So obviously I dig it. The album does feel like it’s 2 hours long, however. See the rest here
First Listens With Three-Star Ratings
Ihsahn — Ámr
✦✦✦✧ This is a subtler work from Ihsahn (which is funny, because the album starts out with this huge-ass synth patch that sounds anything but subtle). The epic power comes from the impeccable arrangements and production, featuring the lushest strings I’ve heard in metal in a long time. The songwriting is a bit “safer” than that on “Arktis,” but Ihsahn still delivers solid doubles throughout, if not actual home runs. See the rest here
Inferi — Revenant
✦✦✦✧ Epic technical death metal that utterly shreds in the moment, but somewhat fails to stick in one’s memory. Also, it goes on and on and on. Still, it’s blistering and super impressive. These guys definitely put in the work (there’s probably something like a quarter million notes on this album, no exaggeration)! See the rest here
Sleep — The Sciences
✦✦✦✧ This is the Platonic ideal of a stoner metal album, from one of the O.G. progenitors of the genre. Is it groundbreaking? Not really. Is it technically shreddy? Hell no. Am I going to put this on heavy rotation this weekend? Already on it, son. See the rest here
TesseracT — Sonder
✦✦✦✧ TesseracT have expanded their emotional resonance on their fourth album, but the price is a somewhat lessened emphasis on their foundational djent. The sacrifice isn’t too dear, as the songs don’t spend too much time away from the band’s bread and butter. Speaking of time, I wish this album was longer; as it is, it is evocative of their debut EP “One” for brevity. See the rest here
Nekrogoblikon — Welcome to Bonkers
✦✦✦✧ This reminds me of Scatterbrain, and BTBAM, and of course goblins. There is an unsubtle goofiness here, although it’s self-aware, joyous, and purehearted in its silly purity (something I could never say of cringeworthy Steel Panther, for example). If you can embrace the obvious goofiness of the band’s conceit, you’ll be rewarded with some objectively technical melodeath. See the rest here
Yashira — Shrine
✦✦✦✧ This reminds me of Torrential Downpour, Norma Jean, Converge, Sumac, Rolo Tomassi, and a kick to the nuts. See the rest here
Bleed From Within — Era
✦✦✦✧ Technical death metal in metalcore’s clothes. This has more in common with Machine Head and Gojira than Killswitch Engage, even as it evokes the best of all those bands. Nasty, surgical, full of swagger and juicy riffs. Most definitely a must-listen. See the rest here
The Absence — A Gift for the Obsessed
✦✦✦✧ Tasty and energetic melodeath, leavened with equal parts Revocation, Arch Enemy, and The Haunted. The music here is not exactly cutting edge, but that’s perhaps to be expected from a band who hasn’t released an album in eight years, and besides we all loved this sound back then well enough anyway. See the rest here
The Sword — Used Future
✦✦✦✧ This sixth album from The Sword continues the band’s progression from frantic Mastodon territory to more of a laidback Earthless vibe, while giving us the band’s most cohesive sonic landscape since 2010’s “Warp Riders.” If anything, “Used Future” marks a doubling down on the band wearing their 70s and 80s influences on their sleeves (there are obvious nods here to Santana, Skynyrd, John Carpenter, Pink Floyd, The Dead, etc.). See the rest here
