✦✦✧✧ This is somehow simultaneously vintage thrash and updated rethrash (imagine Exodus fused with hints of both Slayer and Gojira). Sadly, the subpar production distracts from some otherwise stellar moments. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Weird: my very first thought was, “What the actual fuck is this?! Nu-nu-metal? Mumblecore? Frippertronics?” After a few tracks, I realized that I can’t think of anything else that sounds remotely like this… and that uniqueness absolutely should be celebrated for what it is. Don’t get me wrong: this is about as metal as The Prodigy. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ A surprisingly smooth, energetic, and entertaining collection of folksy, dronelike black metal from these pioneers of the Greek metal scene. Sure, the album is liberally embellished with black metal clichés, but if you’re down for atheistic metal with some cheesy chants and badly-enunciated English vocals, this album is sure to be a hit! See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This is destined to be thought of as the opening salvo of the Great Thrash Offensive Of 2019. As such, it’s a very capable tip of the sword: plenty of tasty, high-speed riffs and infectious headbanging in tighter songs than I’m used to from Flots. Plus, A.K. Knutson’s voice sounds better than ever (faint praise, but worth mentioning). See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Props to DT for coming out with a grittier, tighter version of themselves on this album (somewhere in the musical ballpark of “Scenes From A Memory”). The shorter compositions lead not only to a sharper focus often missing in the past, but this feels in some ways like the best-yet fusion of DT’s twin penchants for heavy technicality and pseudo-emotive composition. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ A decidedly more Behemoth-y brand of death metal than I remember from Malevolent Creation. If only the album sounded as interesting as that description does. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Glitzy and glossy as always, this time around BOS actually manage to deliver some interesting songs as well! What’s interesting about this album (other than its 25-minute length) is that the 8 songs tend to fall into either a strongly metal-with-techno camp or in a techno-core vibe. What’s detrimental about that is that BOS has yet to integrate their djent, synthwave, emocore, and blackened death tendencies into a cohesive whole. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ After a treacly intro, OG deliver another solid suite of melodeath. There’s not a lot of envelope pushing here, which is not surprising for this band. Still, strong musicianship and standard-setting catchiness are coupled with tasty riffs in a way that proves that the formula still works well enough to get the job done. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Can Immortal still bring the frostbitten fury after parting ways with Abbath? Yep: this is classic Norwegian black metal, with all the wind-whipped ferocity you remember from albums past. Therein lies the rub: there’s not a whole lot newness here, and the album does feel a bit by-the-numbers. Still, this is a lovingly produced testament to an important band that still has plenty of bite. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This is Tristan Shone at the top of his game. Nasty, brutal, uncompromising industrial. This is also pretty much not metal. See the rest here
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