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Austrian Death MachineTriple Brutal

★★☆☆ This album has some truly great moments, surrounded by truly unremarkable stretches. The Ahnold schtick has never sounded more tired, but the unavoidable skits are quickly forgotten in the face of all the different shredz. And yet, never has 46 minutes felt so long. Triple Brutal is worth a listen, if you are man enough to make it all the way through.

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MayanAntagonise

★★☆☆ This sophomore album from Epica-by-another-name is chock full of the hallmarks of any good symphonic death metal recording: lush arrangements, over the top drama, and quietly excellent guitarwork. However, this album has a bit of an identity crisis on its hands, at times evoking Soilwork, Ludovico Einaudi, and prog rock.

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Lay Down RottenDeathspell Catharsis

★★☆☆ There’s some decent shredding going on here, but there’s also an embarrassing datedness to the album, from its lyrics and Eastern-bloc vocals, to its lazy thrashy meanderings. And then there are the drums. The drums are often really shockingly sloppy in passages on virtually every track on the album (especially the double-pedal work).

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RingwormHammer Of The Witch

★★☆☆ What I really like about these hardcore veterans is that they’ve peppered this album with interesting and atypical riffs. What I really dislike about them is that those interesting riffs are just plugged into the same old tired song format. Also, the vocals are 100% screamed at 100% intensity without rest.

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CarnifexDie Without Hope

★★☆☆ This album is caught halfway between deathgrind and technodeath, between sounding like The Black Dahlia Murder and The Acacia Strain. While that sounds great, the problem is that the shifts between modes happen too quickly to really seat the listener in either. It’s still a well-done bit of nastiness, though, with a nice assortment of riffs and leads.