★★★☆ The closest thing I can compare this to is Cynic’s “Traced In Air.” But I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention that this album reminded me of UK’s first album, and of BTBAM in one of their less carny moods. Here are a group that manage to intersperse violin solos and flamenco guitars with blast beats and furious palm-mute riffs in a way that feels organic and reasonable, as all of it combines to a lavish soundscape that’s hard to pin down. See the rest here
★★★☆ In ways subtle and otherwise, this album feels like more of the spiritual successor to Decapitated’s “Carnival Is Forever” than that band’s followup album from this year. Beneath have produced a blistering barrage of technical death, tirelessly ferocious but with moments of almost progressive ambition. While there are perhaps not enough changes in dynamics and timbre to make this a masterpiece, it’s still sure to be a crowdpleaser: dark, surefooted, and a bona fide bile-raiser. See the rest here
★★★☆ I have been steadfast in my dismissal of all things Cavalera over the years, ever since “Roots.” But this album finally feels like it gets more things right than not. The detuning (both on the guitars and the vocals) combine with an unorthodoxically muddy mix to fit Max’s nihilistic ambitions while simultaneously putting him in his place: present, but not front and center. See the rest here
★★★☆ This is so gloriously sludgey that you’re going to get a contact high just listening to it. It’s like The Sword crossed paths with The Jesus Lizard, and they all ate some brownies together and listened to The Doors. Man, I am trippin’ balls right now. See the rest here
★★★☆ Calling this metalcore is a little misleading. Sure, the trappings are there… but this album has as much in common with new-style thrash or some variants of prog metal as anything else (I’m looking at you, Meshuggah, BTBAM, and Exmortus). Whatever you call it, “Watchers Of Rule” is fast, heavy, and unrelenting. See the rest here
★★★☆ This is a challenging double-length release, intended to be two albums in one, each one different in tone and scope. This is asking a lot for a First Listen, especially if (like me) you’re not already all-in with Devy. Worse, the first half album is farther away from what one might traditionally consider “metal” than the second, thereby confronting the uninitiated with the bigger challenges upfront. See the rest here
★★★☆ This album is a messy maelstrom of ferocity, with some weird production, EDM, and dubstep touches thrown in. But even with those non-trivial missteps in evidence, Anaal Nathrakh turn in a devilish 41 minutes of glory here. See the rest here
★★★☆ This is a potent slab of unfriendliness, a stripped-down and detuned post-industrial attack that’s honestly hard to take in one sitting. That’s surely a sign of the album’s potency, and Godflesh are as potent and outside the norm now as they were 20 years ago. See the rest here
★★★☆ “Colossus” is a stripped-down but meaty affair, sharing as much in common with Baroness as it does with RATM, post-Layne AIC, the Jesus Lizard, and Stanford Prison Experiment. Everything works here in the band’s favor. The bass and guitars are forever locked in an effectively feral unison, the drums punctuate and drive without mercy, and Jeff Martin’s vocals soar over it all with a self-assured boldness. See the rest here
★★★☆ Listening to “Slaves To The Grave” feels a bit like doing homework… and I mean that in a good way, mostly. The album defies expectation at every turn. It’s got a lo-fi production aesthetic that belies the excellent musicianship and sonic craftsmanship that lurks throughout the whole album. Also, while the musical mainstay here is clearly a speedy thrash, the studious and patient ear can pick out variations in the music evocative Ministry and Gwar — two bands obviously shaped by Rigor Mortis in their overlapping histories. See the rest here
This work by Metalligentsia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.