Nightfly Three years after their debut Berzerker Legion return with their second album Chaos Will Reign. I was very impressed with Obliterate The Weak and said in my review at the time that I hoped we would see a second album from them. My doubt caused by the fact that the band is made up of members of already well established bands such as Asphyx, Decapitated, Dark Funeral and Wombbath to name just a few. Fortunately they have managed to synchronise schedules and return with the same line-up.

Chaos Will Reign pretty much follows in the same footsteps as its predecessor. That’s to say melodic death metal though at the heavier end of the sub-genre. I’ve heard a lot of people compare them to Amon Amarth which I don’t really hear myself, Berzerker Legion being a heavier beast. Like the debut it’s good stuff though not as immediate which in itself is no bad thing but the hooks aren’t quite as strong this time around. The musicianship as expected is top notch. With the brilliant drumming of James Stewart and Fredrik Isaksson’s pummelling bass driving the band you can’t go far wrong and the dual guitar work of Tomas Ellofson and Alwin Zuur is a formidable team and pack a mighty punch. Jonny Pettersson’s vocals from a guttural growl to scream are also impressive and I prefer his work here to Wombbath.

A couple of forgettable songs like Eternal Void and This Is The End whilst far from bad lose the momentum a bit but you’re soon into something better and on the whole the standard remains high. The production is powerful though a bit on the muddy side and a bit more breathing space could have allowed the songs to shine that bit more.

Another very good album then and a worthy addition to your death metal collection if you liked the debut. I’ll look forward to album number three.

Nightfly Another Perfect day stands out as a bit of an oddball in the Motorhead discography. The departure of Eddie Clarke early in a USA tour after refusing to play on collaboration with the Plasmatics, a version of Tammy Wynette’s Stand By Your Man, left them in need of a guitarist fast to avoid cancelling the rest of the tour. I believe a couple of dates did get cancelled but the quick arrival of former Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson enabled them to salvage most of it. After the tour the band went into the studio to start work on the sixth studio album.

Another Perfect Day sounds different to any Motorhead album before or since. It’s their most melodic album down to Robbo’s more melodic hard rock guitar style replacing Clarke’s raw bluesy rock ‘n’roll riffing. On paper it shouldn’t have worked but although slated at the time is actually a strong collection of songs. It’s still clearly the sound of Motorhead with Lemmy’s distinctive vocals and pummelling bass and Phil Taylors driving drumming it couldn’t be otherwise but Robbo’s guitar, both lead and rhythm, with plenty of overdubs adds a melodic sophistication not previously present. Don’t be mistaken though, this album still rocks hard with some great guitar work. It’s also strong from start to finish without any weak moments which can’t be said for the previous album Iron Fist.

It wasn’t to last, mainly down to Robertson being permanently pissed on tour and his questionable dress sense on stage his services were soon dispensed with, the band coming back with Orgasmatron and a two guitar line-up with a more traditional Motorhead sound. Another Perfect Day is still a great album though and while not up there with classics like Overkill and Ace Of Spades is still stronger than many in the bands back catalogue. It would have been great to have had at least one more album with Robbo but sadly it wasn’t to be.

Nightfly Following the three year release pattern by Incantation over the last decade along comes album number thirteen from the USA death metal legends. I was extremely impressed by 2020’s Sect Of Vile Divinities, awarding it 4 ½ stars in my review. On the face of it Unholy Deification is more of the same but is it any good?

To answer the above question, well, yes, but… it didn’t get me hooked like last time around, at least not initially. Okay, it has big boots to fill as to my ears Sect Of Vile Divinities is top five Incantation. After four plays however it started to reveal its strengths. The first thing to note is after the cleaner sound (relatively speaking) we had last time the sound here is murkier and more in keeping generally with past work. This is old school death metal with slower doomier parts alongside breakneck blasting as you would expect from Incantation. Opener Offerings (The Swarm) is a perfect example of the Incantation sound. Fast and extremely heavy and a killer riff. Concordat (The Pact) follows and is more of the same only better. Homuncules (Spirit Made Flesh) is the first of the slower songs but still crushes with a compelling doomy riff. One or two songs lack memorability like Megaron (Sunken Chamber) that comes and goes leaving no or little impression but on the whole this is solid stuff.

The organic sound is essential for the murky depths that Incantation go to and works well. The band play well with mainman John McEntee’s easily recognisable guttural growl to the fore. The mixture of slower and faster tempos keeps things more interesting than 45 minutes of relentless blastbeats, something the band clearly know and use to good effect.

Unholy Deification is an album that is worthy of perseverance as it takes a while to reveal its strengths. It’s a more complex beast than initial impressions give. At present I’m not rating it quite as highly as previous album Sect Of Vile Divinities but that may change with a few more plays. Nevertheless it’s another strong addition to the bands impressive back catalogue and fans of the band are unlikely to be disappointed.

Nightfly The Old Ways Remain, the fifth album from Canada’s Blood Ceremony, has been a long time coming. Seven years in fact since the excellent Lord Of Misrule. Since then just a couple of singles to let us know they haven’t left us including the brilliant let It Come Down that I would have liked to have seen on here. If you want that it’s available online or on the probably now out of print 7” single. They say that great things come to those who wait and I’m pleased to say that’s certainly the case here.

Those who loved Lord Of Misrule will also love The Old Ways Remain as on the face of it is a very similar album in style and sound. The difference is firstly it’s an overall heavier album than last time around though it has to be said not massively so. LOM had its heavier moments of course but the nothing as sugary as Loreley here for example. There’s still no shortage of the strong melodies you’d expect to hear from Blood Ceremony though like their most recent single Lolly Willows and Powers Of Darkness. So as expected the sound is more the late 60’s to early 70’s heavy psych sound and little if any trace of their doom past. The Hellfire Club is a perfect riffy opener and they keep the momentum going on the equally compelling Ipsissimus. In fact there’s not a weak song present. The sound gets a bit more whimsical and mellow later on with the short Hecate and Mossy Wood along with album closer Song Of The Morrow, a beautifully haunting and trippy song to end with.

The production is quite dry but suits the songs pretty well allowing plenty of separation and clarity of the usual instrumentation of guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and vocalist Alia O’Briens flute. Everyone does a great job as expected but a special mention must go to drummer Michael Carrillo for his inventive often syncopated drum parts.

To this day, for me, The Eldritch Dark remains Blood Ceremony’s finest moment but all their albums apart from the eponymous debut (not bad by any means) come pretty close in quality and The Old Ways Remain is another essential release in the bands small (so far) discography. Fair enough, we have had the covid years, but hopefully we won’t have to wait so long for the next one.

Nightfly Swedish death death metal masters Vomitory called it a day in 2013, bowing out in fine style with the excellent Opus Mortis VIII released in 2011. In 2018 they announced their reformation and no doubt held up by covid-19, 2023 finally sees the release of their new album, All Heads Are Gonna Roll, with the same line up in tact as on the last few before the split.

Despite the 12 year gap, All Heads Are Gonna Roll could have been released the year after Opus Mortis VIII, such is the seamless continuity. They may not have reinvented the wheel but sometimes things stay the same for the better. That’s certainly the case here as what we get is 10 tracks of old school death metal, raw, fast and brutal as it usually is at its best. Their sound owes as much to the USA as their native Sweden, lacking that stereotype buzzsaw guitar sound in favour of something sharper but just as heavy, if not more so. The pace is relentless throughout with only the occasional pause for breath but the consistency of memorable riffs throughout makes this a winner. The in your face production certainly helps as does the great musicianship but without the strong hooks it could all wear thin pretty quickly. Thankfully that’s not the case as whilst Vomitory stick to their tried and trusted formula song after song they deliver the goods.

Despite some solid releases I was starting to think that 2023 wasn’t going to be one of the better years for death metal but in the space of a couple of weeks we’ve had this and Frozen Souls excellent second album so all is not lost yet. As things stand Vomitory have set the benchmark for others to aim for.

Nightfly There are probably not too many bands that have reached their eighth full length album without at least one of them being a dud. Such a band that has is USA tech death/thrashers Revocation. Inevitably some are better than others but each and every one of them is still a quality release. Their music whilst always complex as already mentioned incorporates both thrash and death metal with earlier releases leaning more to the thrash spectrum and later more towards death, particularly on their last album The Outer Ones though the lines between the two are often minimal and blurred. Like The Outer Ones, Netherheaven has more of a death leaning.

Netherheaven effortlessly maintains the high standards the band has set themselves. As always the music is busy, complex and for the most part fast perfectly demonstrated on opener Diabolical Majesty. It’s a killer that fans of the band will immediately enjoy and instantly recognisable as Revocation’s signature style. Lessons In Occult Theft is equally good as it twists and turns with constant rhythmic shifts and a collection of killer riffs overlaid by David Davidson’s harsh vocal delivery. This time around he is the sole guitarist but you wouldn’t notice the difference but how this will work live I’m not sure as this music really needs a dual guitar line-up. A second guest guitarist would be the way to go. The guitar solos are well written and executed, injecting some melody alongside the brutal riffing which as always is inventive and compelling with added dissonance for good measure. It’s not all Bludgeon though with Galleries Of Morbid Artistry adding some welcome light and shade for example. Once again the rhythm section of Brett Bamberger and Ash Pearson put in a masterly performance and in sync with Davidson’s complexities. Being a drummer myself I always look forward to hearing Pearson’s playing and he doesn’t disappoint here.

Because there’s a lot happening on Revocation albums they always take quite a few plays to reveal themselves fully. Great Is Our Sin remains a high point and benchmark for me but Netherheaven is another solid addition to the bands output though not quite reaching the heights of that masterpiece. Nevertheless it’s another essential album in their catalogue, one I’m more than happy with and will certainly be high on my albums of the year list in a few months’ time.

Nightfly Metal Music Archives Reviewer's Challenge: June 2022

New York’s Flourishing are a new band to me and having released this, The Sum Of All Fossils, their one and only album back in 2011 it’s easy to see how they passed me by. Still, better late than never and I’m always intrigued by death metal bands that go down the dissonant road. It’s a branch of death metal that is difficult to do well as it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of producing a cacophonous mess. Bands like Immolation and Gorguts have been doing it so well for so long I find myself constantly referencing them when listening to like-minded bands. Okay, the former may not be as extreme as some but to my ears they have perfected it, with the right balance between discord and crushing compelling riffs.

The Sum Of All Fossils like most of its ilk won’t reveal itself immediately. This sort of stuff requires time and patience as by its nature you have to dig deeper to find the rewards. You don’t always get them of course but fortunately it’s worth spending some time with Flourishing. I could list far better examples of technical death metal on the dissonant side of things but these guys are no slouches. A pre-requisite is strong musicianship which this trio clearly have, to be able to follow all the twists and turns that they throw at you. Most importantly though it still needs great riffs to back it all up. This is where they lose a few marks as whilst you’ll find them at times I’m not convinced by them and not drawn in. They do introduce lighter moments which are welcome though don’t always work like on Momentary Senses but serve their purpose by making the heavier parts even more crushing. When they get it right though, which they do frequently, it’s really very good like on Summary. At just over four minutes it’s the shortest song on the album and cuts out any unnecessary flab.

The production is decent too though I would have preferred the drums a bit heavier as they are a bit on the thin side, but each instrument is clearly heard in the mix as are the vocals which whilst being unexceptional do the job.

Overall then I quite enjoyed The Sum Of All Fossils and it’s a shame they didn’t follow it up with album number 2 (they split up in 2014) as I’m sure they could have developed their songwriting skills considerably. They did however follow it up with an EP which showed promise. Still it’s a decent if small legacy.

Nightfly If there’s one band above all others in the death metal sub-genre you can always rely on to deliver the goods it’s Immolation. Eleven albums in and they’re still showing no signs of running out of steam. An early high point in their career was the highly rated Close To A World Below, regarded by many to be their best album. I’d find it hard to disagree though they have equalled it at least a couple of times since – Majesty and Decay and last album Atonement. Even the rest have not been far off the mark. Acts Of God comes five years after Atonement, the longest we’ve ever had to wait for a new album. I never doubted that it wouldn’t be brilliant and fortunately my faith has been rewarded.

Acts Of God may not contain any surprises – its Immolation just doing what they’re so good at and as long as the songs are great then that’s all I ask and want from them. After the short intro of Abandoned things really kick off with An Act Of God and there’s no mistaking who we’re listening to. All the recognisable Immolation hallmarks are in place – the dissonant guitar riffs from the master of dissonance Robert Vigna, aided by Alex Bouks for the second time. There’s Ross Dolan’s low guttural growl and thundering bass and Steve Shalaty’s constantly shifting rhythmic virtuosity. The sound is a bit sharper this time round which doesn’t mean better as I’m not impartial to a bit of murk, but it does enable each player’s contributions to be clearly heard. Whilst they hit a peak in the second half of the album with a relentless barrage of inventive riffing that never lets up, the first half contains gems like Noose Of Thorns and Shed The Light ensuring the high benchmark the band set themselves is never lowered. Robert Vigna’s prowess with the dissonant riff is well documented but I must mention again Steve Shalaty’s jaw dropping drumming here. He’s long been one of my favourites in the death metal arena but here he seems to have found a new level. He can lay down speedy blastbeats as required but it’s all the twists and turns and syncopated parts and fills he drops in, often on the slower sections, that really catch your attention. At 52 minutes Acts Of God is quite long but such is the quality of these songs it doesn’t feel like it.

Overall Acts Of God is another masterpiece of death metal from Immolation up there with their best albums. An almost perfect album that is currently and very likely to remain my album of the year. The only thing stopping me from giving it the full 5 stars is the first half as a whole doesn’t quite match the second but the difference is very slim. Oh sod it, I'm nitpicking, 5 stars it is, you couldn't really ask for a better album than this and it gets better each time!

Nightfly Based in the UK, though originally from Poland, Lvcifyre have been plying their trade of blackened death metal since 2007, releasing their debut album The Calling Depths in 2012. Their second album released in 2014, Svn Eater showed great promise and likewise the Sacrament EP released in 2019 showing greater growth. With The Broken Seal however the band have come of age and released their strongest collection to date.

The music on The Broken Seal sounds massive while still being darkly atmospheric. Dissonance rules here. Those who like their death metal on the murky side with brooding atonal riffs should find plenty to get their teeth into. If you were to mix in equal portions Morbid Angel, Sulphur Aeon, Immolation and throw in a bit of Deathspell Omega and Ulcerate for good measure you would probably come up with something like this. The raw but powerful production suits the music perfectly contributing greatly to the success of this album. Easier said than done to present each instrument with clarity whilst still maintaining a sound that sounds like it comes from the depths of hell. The years of experience have paid off, the musicianship is top notch as is the songwriting, each track expertly balancing the elements of atmospherics, dynamics and most importantly great riffs. It’s not easy to pick favourites as each song plays its part and integral to the whole, which is how this album is best appreciated with the slower atmospheric sections laying the ground for the next barrage of compelling riffs.

Lvcifyre are technically a duo rather than a band with T Kaos handling all the instrumentation apart from the drums. He also is responsible for the very effective vocals, mainly a guttural growl and the occasional higher scream. Menthor’s drums are integral to the band’s sound and his contribution should not be underestimated as he follows all the twists and turns easily. His inventive and busy playing ranging from blasts to slower syncopated sections, constantly shifting in line with the busy and restless song structures.

If there's any justice in this world this should be the album to break Lvcifyre to the next level. Whilst there was nothing wrong with their earlier work, here the band have realised the promise shown on those releases and made an album that’s up there with the best death metal 2021 has to offer. As we near the end of the year The Broken Seal will feature highly on my album of the year list for sure.

Nightfly Dancing Into Oblivion is the second album from White Stones, a band perhaps best known for featuring Opeth bassist Martín Méndez. I was quite impressed with their debut album, Kuarahy, an enjoyable collection of groove infused progressive death metal. Dancing Into Oblivion comes hot on its heels being released just over a year later and features the same line up, the band being completed by drummer Jordi Farré and vocalist Eloi Boucherie.

Dancing Into Oblivion treads the same ground as Kuarahy though far less pleasing as a whole. Perhaps they should have taken a bit longer as even though it’s only thirty five minutes long, it failed to keep my interest for even that. The riffs sound less inspired and mainly pale imitations of their debut though any song here wouldn’t be out of place there. Six minutes of the short running time is wasted on three far from essential instrumentals which meander aimlessly starting with the ambient La Menace. The other two are minimal guitar pieces that are pleasant enough but take up space that could have been better used. New age Of Dark kicks the album off proper and is the best track on the album, the only song that can compete with the better moments of Kuarhy. Perhaps a little too similar though with a main riff that feels very familiar. Clean by death metal standards guitar work laid over fast rolling kick drums create a groove that they have already used a few times on the debut. Iron Titans at nearly nine minutes is where they do try to do something a bit different. In four parts, the first three minutes are instrumental and have a bit of an Opeth vibe in their quieter moments. When it shifts up a couple of gears we’re back in more familiar territory followed by a strong guitar solo from guest João Sassetti who also leads the song out underpinned by some inventive drumming from Farré. Unfortunately by this point we’ve had the best from this album with four tracks still to go with only Freedom In Captivity mildly piquing my interest.

I feel a bit short changed with this one as if you remove the three instrumentals you’re only left with around twenty five minutes of music and around half of that is average at best. I wouldn’t write them off yet though as their debut showed they’re very capable but I’ll pass on this one for now. Disappointing.

Nightfly It’s only in the last year or two that I actually heard Angel Dust for the first time. After starting life as a speed metal band in the 80’s, they split up after two albums and reformed in 1997, re-inventing themselves as a power metal band, releasing a further four albums. It was on these later releases that were my first taste of the band. I’m quite selective with power metal, generally preferring the heavier USPM, but German PM bands can often be heavier than many of their other European counterparts as well. Such is the case with Angel Dust and I was impressed with their strong hooks and melodies that didn’t sacrifice heaviness.

To Dust You Will Decay, released in 1988, is the second of their original incarnation albums. It’s not surprisingly as slick as their later work but still has a powerful , full and professional sounding production, especially for the time when lesser known bands often released albums with a less than perfect sound to put it kindly. The band are tight and the nine songs are well played speed metal , occasionally verging on thrash, with no shortage of compelling riffs on not surprisingly, mainly up-tempo numbers. It’s on these songs where the band is at their best, the few mid-paced songs like Wings Of An Angel being less memorable though lesser bands would be glad of them. The songs often contain melodic elements making a bridge to their later power metal style. The increase in melody is more noticeable from their debut which was at the thrashier end of speed metal, which nevertheless was an equally fine album. Pick of the bunch? The King and the title track and The Duel are as good a choice as any, as I prefer my metal fast but there’s plenty of similar quality to pick from here.

I wish I’d been aware of this band in the 80’s as this is certainly an album I would have bought at the time but in those pre-internet days it wasn’t as easy to hear new albums as it is now. Still better late than never and I can recommend this along with Angel Dust’s other five albums very highly.

Nightfly Back in 2017 Suffering Hour created quite a stir with their debut album “In Passing Ascension”. Their distinctive take on blackened death metal won them many admirers so not surprisingly album number two, “The Cyclic Reckoning” arrives with high expectations.

Whilst the band shows growth they continue using the template they cut last time. Their sound is pretty distinctive mainly down to the guitar work of YhA which is quite clean with plenty of top end and vibrato and a heavy chorus effect – a seventies vibe even at times. The songs, only five in total, sound cold and atmospheric loaded with plenty of dissonance. The thin top heavy production bears more resemblance to black than death metal and in fact the music does sit in both camps. Personally I would have preferred the rhythm section to have a meatier sound as they lack power and sound distant in the mix. No doubt this is deliberate though adding to the cold, icy feel. As a result of this the guitar does tend to overshadow everything else, including the vocals, so it’s just as well that YhA has come up with some engaging riffs though they’re far from immediate and require some perseverance to fully appreciate. The album closes with the sixteen and a half minute “The Foundations of Servitude” giving them ample opportunity to stretch things out and not surprisingly is the most complex track here. The opening chiming chords soon descend into a maelstrom of riffs backed by the ever-shifting bass and drums. It’s the best track on offer and whilst the first four songs hint at what’s to come it’s only now that I feel the band reach their full potential.

A minor criticism from me is despite its uniqueness; the guitar sound does wear a bit thin over time and seems to offer limited opportunities for growth on future albums if they stick with it. But I’m getting too far ahead here so concentrating on “The Cyclic Reckoning”, whilst it’s an album I admire rather than love, there’s no denying it’s very good and full marks must go to Suffering Hour for trying to do something original in a genre (or genres) of music where it is becoming increasingly difficult to do so.

Nightfly It’s not often I give out a 5 star review as there’s not that many albums that are without even a few minor flaws. In the case of Bionic Swarm, the debut album from Dutch technical thrash metal band Cryptosis I had to make one of my rare exceptions, such the quality on offer here. This is their debut album but they were previously active as Distillator since 2013 so they’ve had time to cut their teeth and it shows.

Cryptosis occupy a similar place to Voivod and Vektor with their spacey and futuristic thrash metal. They’ve even just released a split with the latter recently. Naturally being added to our technical thrash metal sub here on MMA the music is complex as expected. It’s often very fast though not relentlessly so and busy. The songs often have strong and memorable melodies so it’s not one of those total guitar wankery exercises with style over substance. Far from it in fact as the strength of the melodies, often having a melancholic vibe helped by their use of mellotron, is one of the albums greatest strengths. There is also plenty of prog elements on display so fans of prog metal may find it to their liking if they are not averse to the vocals usually associated with more extreme metal genres. It’s an album that’s best listened to as a whole as every song as it comes is my new favourite! Another reason is it’s also a concept album of eight connected stories according to the band set in the year 2149. Naturally the playing is top notch with some blistering fret work and fast, precise and busy drumming – essential for this sort of stuff of course. The icing on the cake is the clear and powerful production allowing every nuance and intricacy to shine through.

Bionic Swarm is an album I’ve played often in the last few weeks, on heavy rotation in the car and at home. Deservedly so as well as at the time of writing it’s my favourite album of 2021 so far. Essential listening for fans of extreme metal, but also well worth a listen for prog metal fans too.

Nightfly The Crown, a death metal band (sometimes melodic death metal) from Sweden were active from 1998 until 2004, though prior to that they were known as Crown Of Thorns. They then reformed in 2009. It’s only since this reformation I’ve really took much notice of them though what I’ve heard of the earlier albums seems solid enough without being spectacular but perhaps I need to give them a thorough checking out as I know some people rate some of their early work very highly . Since 2009 though I’m well aware of the quality death metal the band have been releasing, the highpoint being 2018’s Cobra Speed Venom. Catchy crushing riffs aplenty really brought to life by a powerful and clear production. I was therefore looking forward to their latest album Royal Destroyer to see if they could keep the momentum going.

Initial impressions were good, another powerful production though not quite as bright as Cobra Speed Venom which is not a criticism. First track proper, after a short intro, Let The Hammering Begin! gets things off to a great start – fast, incredibly heavy and insistent brutal riffing that doesn’t take long to get under the skin. Things continue in a similar vein with no shortage of equally pummelling riffs, sometimes injecting a thrash element. Whilst speed and ferocity are largely the order of the day they do slow things down now and again, the first time apart from a few short bursts being on Glorious Hades. It’s not bad but I did find my attention wandering so it was good to hear that follower Full Metal Justice catches them on full throttle again where they are at their best. Later in the album a few tracks like We Drift On sees the band running out of steam but they find their form again for closer (unless you have the bonus track version) Beyond The Frail which is one of the best songs here.

Another overall strong album from The Crown then. Cobra Speed Venom remains my favourite which this doesn’t quite match down to a few tracks robbing it of great status but at its best equals past glories. Well worth checking out though and I’m sure most fans of the band will be pretty happy with this one.

Nightfly The Dead Daisies have had a revolving door of members since their eponymous debut in 2013, the only ever present member being Australian guitarist David Lowy. Practically a who’s who of hard rock, members who’ve come and mostly gone include bassist Marco Mendoza, vocalist john Corabi, keyboardist Dizzy Reed, guitarist Doug Aldrich, drummer Brian Tichy and drummer Deen Castronovo as well as some high profile guests like Slash and Jimmy Barnes. The band have so far released four never less than solid studio albums, the pick of the bunch for me being 2016’s Make Some Noise. After 2018’s Burn It Down vocalist John Corabi and bassist Marco Mendoza jumped ship. A great loss to any band but the perfect time to bring in Glenn Hughes, replacing both of them in one go. Hughes and Aldrich already have history, the guitarist having played on one of his solo tours back in 2015 I believe it was, one of the dates in Newcastle I was lucky enough to have seen.

It’s clear from the off that bringing in Hughes was the smartest move the band could have made. As soon as the title track Holy Ground kicks in its apparent that he’s had a big influence on the band’s sound. Of course there’s his vocal. I’ve long held the belief that his powerful and soulful delivery is the finest in rock but on a musical level a lot of the songs could have sat comfortably on many of his solo albums. Holy Ground is undoubtedly the bands finest album to date but all the credit can’t be given to Hughes who with one or two exceptions has made his strongest albums in band settings – Trapeze, Deep Purple, Hughes/Thrall and most recently Black Country Communion. The Dead Daisies are on fire here with eleven songs of hard hitting rock bursting with big riffs and powerful hooks backed by top notch musicianship. Every song here is a killer, even the seemingly obligatory ballad Far Away that closes the album which Hughes’s soulful vocals fit perfectly and Aldrich reels off perhaps his best guitar solo on the album. There’s also a cover of Humble Pie’s 30 Days In The Hole. The Daisies seem to have at least one cover on every album but here they make the song their own adding power to the original and also featuring Castronovo sharing vocals, a fine singer in his own right.

It’s perhaps on the other nine tracks where the real gems lie though where the band really kick ass, heavier than they’ve ever been. The songs, mostly mid-pace, have plenty of groove and are driven along by the powerful Hughes/Castronovo rhythm section overlaid by Aldrich and Lowy’s crushing and infectious riffs. Favourites include Like No Other (Bassline) for strongest hook and a pummelling dirty bassline and perhaps Hughes’s finest vocal performance on the album. Then there’s Unspoken, the first song unveiled by this line-up and a grand statement of intent that really made me very impatient to hear the rest. Righteous Days is another highlight for the same reasons that I’ve already mentioned above but as I already said, every song here is a killer.

In view of the many line-up changes this band has had and Hughes seems to get itchy feet fairly often, I really hope this incarnation can hold it together for a few more albums as they work so well together and it’s hard to see how they could improve on this formula they’ve developed. An early contender for album of the year for sure.

Nightfly My last review for MMA was Skelethal’s 2020 album Unveiling The Threshold, a French death metal band whose sound owed a lot to the original Swedish death metal bands like Dismember and Entombed. My next comes from Toxaemia, a band who can claim to have been around at the start of the Swedish death metal movement. Unfortunately for them, they only stuck around long enough to release an EP and a couple of demos, splitting up in 1991. Incidentally, these early recordings can be heard to best effect on the Burried To Rise compilation. As well as the original mixes there are remixed and remastered versions done by Dan Swano who has worked wonders with them. The band could have been nothing more than a footnote in Swedish death metal but reformed in 2017 and over thirty years after their original formation have finally released their debut album.

Where Paths Divide kicks off proper, after the almost obligatory atmospheric intro piece, in this case the album title track, with Delusions. It’s a great start with a powerful slab of mid paced old school death metal. It’s one of the best songs on the album as is following track Pestilence. Here they up the pace without sacrificing any of the power, ferocious riffs not in short supply on either track. The band never betters these early high benchmarks but nevertheless retain a high standard of compelling and pulverising death metal for most of the album. The albums not about speed, though it has its faster moments, but more about crushing riffs, sometimes slowed to a steady groove, which is aided by the Dan Swano mix who adds an organic and muscular edge to the band’s sound. The playing is solid from band originals Pontus Cervin (Bass) and Stevo Bolgakoff (guitars) aided by new guys Rasmus Axelsson (guitars), Perra Karlsson (drums) and Dennis Johansson (vocals). The album does tail off slightly towards the end but with only a minimal dip in quality Toxaemia have still managed to produce a high quality death metal album.

I was originally leaning towards a 3 star rating before starting my review but repeated plays have allowed most of these songs to get under my skin. Where Paths Divide is an album I’ll enjoy returning to from time to time so it’s definitely worth a good 3 ½ stars. Hopefully there will be more to come from Toxaemia in the future.

Nightfly A late entry in my 2020 death metal explorations is this second album from French band Skelethal. Released late November, I’ve been living with it since the run up to Christmas and didn’t have as much time to spend with it as I would have liked. It’s only now in these dark, miserable January days, under our third Covid-19 lockdown here in the UK, that I’ve found the time to devote to it that it deserves.

I’m certainly glad to have found the time, as give Unveiling The Threshold a few plays and you’ll discover an excellent old school death metal album that could have been released back in the nineties. Leaning more to the Swedish style, buzzsaw guitars and all, it’s packed with infectiously raw riffs with a dual guitar attack. The sound is authentically raw and organic with just enough of a modern edge to add some extra punch. It’s not only the guitars that benefit from this as the drums really cut through with plenty of visceral power and there’s no shortage of bottom end from the bass. The vocals from Gui Haunting, who also doubles up on guitar, do the job nicely, or should I say horribly. It’s your typical low guttural growl as you’d expect and sits well in the mix without being too in your face. The pace rarely lets up but there’s enough twists and turns to keep things interesting and at thirty seven minutes is just about the perfect length. No songs particularly stand out as a favourite as none really stray from the bands template but the overall quality remains high throughout.

This is pretty much your meat and potatoes no frills death metal, you’ve certainly heard the like many times before if this is your thing. However, Skelethal do it with such enthusiasm and conviction on a consistently strong collection of songs that it’s hard not to be won over by it. Looks like I’m going to have to make some adjustments to my album of the year list here on MMA.

Nightfly Armored Saint and me go back a long way. The first album I bought by them was their second, Delirious Nomad when it was released in 1985. On the face of it they should have had a lot more success than they did and I’m not quite sure why they didn’t, as from day one the band have been releasing quality heavy metal. In a career that has seen them split up and reform a few times, their latest run from 2006, Punching The Sky is their eighth studio album. Despite the quality of earlier releases I felt the band reached a career high on 2015’s Win Hands Down, a perfect example of traditional heavy metal with barely a weak moment.

The good news is if you enjoyed Win Hands Down you’re going to also love Punching The Sky. It’s another strong collection of heavy metal full of great songs, melodic but heavy and packed with great riffs and memorable well thought out guitar solos. The bands not so secret weapon has always been the incomparable vocals of John Bush who of course spent time with Anthrax. He’s on fine form as expected here with the right balance of raw power and the ability to carry a tune which he always does magnificently. Of course any fan of Armored Saint knows that the rest of band are fine players and they all put in strong performances here. Like last time around the album is strong as a whole but favourites include the up-tempo End Of The Attention Span and then there’s Lone Wolf which wins the award for catchiest chorus. Then there’s the chugging palm muted riffing of Do Wrong To None alternating between a steady groove and a more up-tempo chorus. In fact the songs on the whole maintain the listeners’ interest with plenty of dynamics, well placed accents and tempo changes, no better demonstrated than on Fly in The Ointment.

Armored Saint have done it again and released an album of classy heavy metal to equal anyone in their field. As a whole it may not quite equal Win Hands Down but that’s more to do with the high bar they set themselves last time than any defects here. It’s not far off though and if they continue to release albums of this quality I’ll be more than happy.

Nightfly Now nine studio albums into their career, which started with the highly regarded The Nocturnal Silence in 1993, Necrophobic have been releasing quality blackened death metal with only the occasional slip. The swingometer between black and death metal varies slightly and these days they seem to have settled on a blackened melodic death metal style which I felt reached a zenith on 2018’s Mark of The Necrogram. Two years later we now have Dawn Of The Damned and it’s almost the same line-up as last time with only a change in bass players, Allan Lundholm replacing Alex Friberg. That’s some going in Necrophobic world as they’ve had quite a few changes of personnel over the years. This stability may explain why Dawn Of The Damned is similar in feel and execution to its predecessor, not only musically but the largely red cover even having a similar look. On Dawn Of The Damned though they may have just exceeded the excellence of Mark Of The Necrogram slightly and produced the finest album of their career.

The short opening instrumental Aphelion sets the mood up nicely before things kick off proper with Darkness Be My Guide and we’re immediately into familiar territory of flailing blast beats and tremolo picked guitar riffs. It’s catchy as hell and a strong way to get things going. Without going into each song the quality continues throughout. There may not be a lot of variation – most of the songs power along at a similar high speed but the energy, melody and strength of the riffs win over and stop lethargy settling in. Two of the songs break the seven minute barrier, The Infernal Depths Of Eternity and The Return Of A Long Lost Soul. Both are highpoints, particularly the latter of the two which actually slows things down, to begin with at least, but ends with all guns blazing on a compelling instrumental outro with excellent guitar solos. Of course the standard of musicianship is high as expected and vocalist Anders Strokirk’s blackened rasp is on top form. This all helped by a sympathetic and powerful production.

There will always be those I’m sure that cite their debut or perhaps The Third Antichrist as the bands high point, both excellent albums for sure, but for me it’s their later years where Necrophobic have really hit their stride. Dawn Of The Damned is essential listening for anyone who’s ever liked this excellent band and sure to be in my top ten at the end of the year.

Nightfly Live Burial have been active since 2012 but I’ve only just come across them for the first time recently missing out on their 2014 debut “Forced Back To Life. With the sheer number of death metal bands out there vying for attention I would not normally be surprised by this, but the fact that they are based only 35 miles away from me in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne makes me wonder how I’ve missed them so far. Thank fuck I like them as I wouldn’t want to give some local lads a crap review.

A quick listen to their debut album, Forced Back To Life (where they borrowed Lars Ulrich’s snare from the St Anger sessions – just kidding guys) shows the band have made considerable growth since then with Unending Futility being a more mature and paced piece of work displaying a much greater sense of dynamics. Things get off to a great start with the doomy intro of Seeping Into The Earth but the pace soon picks up. I’m reminded of early Death around the time of Leprosy and Spiritual Healing with the rawness of Asphyx. Fluid bass lines vie for attention with busy drum parts and the powerful yet atmospheric guitar riffs. Seeping Into The Earth turns out to be one of my favourite tracks but that doesn’t mean it’s all downhill from here. These guys get quite technical at times, which is not always immediately apparent through the raw production but this actually works in their favour. The emphasis though seems to be more on dark foreboding atmospherics, especially on the slower sections though they can ramp up the speed when required which they do frequently. These doomier parts work well in contrast to the busier and faster sections, sometimes having a blackened edge and the frequent changes add plenty of interest. The album may be a little formulaic and borrow heavily from the past but it’s of minor concern with the quality of the material on show and by the time I get to closer Cemetery Fog I’m ready to play it again as at 41 minutes it certainly doesn’t outstay its welcome.

2020 has been a great year for death metal despite all the covid shit that’s fucked up so much in the music world. I really hope these guys get noticed amongst the massive amount of new death metal out there as Unending Futility is worthy of your investigation.

Nightfly What can you say about a new Incantation album that hasn’t already been said many times before? There’s no startling changes in direction, just Incantation doing what they do best. Ultimately then it boils down to is it any good and comparable in quality to their past work?

Sect Of Vile Divinities is studio album number twelve from these (originally) New York death metal giants. They’re located in Pennsylvania these days but it hasn’t made any difference to their style. I’m pleased to say it’s all still crushingly heavy old school death metal ranging from faster blast beat infused stuff to the expected slower doomier side. Their sound might not be quite as dirty as in the past but the riffs are still dark, packing plenty of punch. In fact the production is cleaner than you usually expect from Incantation. Some may see this as a problem but it does at least allow everything to cut through clearly. Apart from a couple of less than stellar albums Incantation have been pretty consistent for most of their career and Sect Of Vile Divinities is no exception. In fact I think it’s up a few notches on 2017’s Profane Nexus which had a couple of weaker moments. Not the case here, making it a compelling listen from start to finish bookended by two of the faster and strongest tracks - Ritual Impurity (Seven Of The Sky Is One) and Siege Hive.

The band play very well with some great guitar work from also vocalist and mainstay John McEntee and Sonny Lombardozzi. Luke Shively also supplies lead guitar and is now appears to be a full time member, replacing Lombardozzi. The drums and bass are still supplied by Kyle Severn and Chuck Sherwood respectively and they also do a great job, solid as a rock and inventive when required to be.

Classics like second album Mortal Throne Of Nazarene may remain perennial favourites amongst the bands fans but almost thirty years after their debut Onward To Golgotha, Incantation are still releasing high quality death metal. In fact Sect Of Vile Divinities is probably my favourite album to come from them in the last twenty years.

Nightfly Normally I like to review an album fairly soon after it’s released and if I don’t I probably won’t review it at all. I’ve been living with Sacraments Of Descension, the third album from Perdition Temple for over six months now so it would have normally missed the boat for a review from me. However as it’s so good I decided I had to get one done.

Those of you who’ve followed guitarist and vocalist Gene Palubicki since Angelcorpse days will know what to expect here. Since that bands last album in 2007, the often maligned Of Lucifer And Lightening, he went onto Blasphemic Cruelty and Apocalypse Command before forming Perdition Temple in 2009. Pick any of his bands and you won’t find much difference between them, all following the tried and trusted template that Palubicki developed in Angelcorpse. That is blackened death metal with a Morbid Angel influence fuelled by a relentless barrage of ultra-fast drums and busy guitar riffs with a wall of sound approach. It’s in Perdition Temple where he has produced his best work since Angelcorpse and Sacraments Of Descension is their best album so far, in fact in my opinion equalling his work with Angelcorpse. Nothing has changed stylistically but here we get his most compelling collection of riffs and hooks for some time. Some may find it too busy with little variation in the songs and it would be a fair point but a good and sympathetic production really allows these songs to shine with every blur of notes and rolling double kick drums clearly heard. The lack of variety makes picking favourites futile but at only thirty four minutes it works a treat with nothing standing out as a weak moment either.

Fans of Palubicki should have no complaints here but if you’ve not been won over by him in the past that is unlikely to change with Sacraments Of Descension. Angelcorpse reformed for some live shows a few years ago but all has gone quiet again. A new album would be very welcome but if it happens hopefully that won’t be the end of Perdition Temple. On the strength of this one there’s plenty of life left in this band yet.

Nightfly White Stones are a new band that will no doubt be most talked about because it features Opeth bassist Martín Méndez. More of a Méndez solo project than a band? Quite possibly and as he wrote all the music and nearly all the lyrics he’s clearly in charge here. As well as bass duties Méndez also supplies a lot of the guitar. He is joined by Jordi Farré on drums and vocalist Eloi Boucherie. There’s also guest appearances from guitarist Per Ericsson and his Opeth Bandmate Fredrik Akesson who plays the guitar solos on six of the tracks.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect on Kuarahy, their debut album, despite hearing rumours that it was nearer to the sound of old style Opeth than recent Opeth albums are. To be honest it doesn’t really sound much like Opeth to me though not surprisingly occasional influences can be heard. Musically White Stones play progressive metal that also leans towards death metal. The vocals certainly fit death metal but a lot of the guitar parts are quite clean sounding for that particular sub-genre. The album largely has a similar vibe throughout with guitar riffs often cleanly picked, at least by death metal standards, though they dirty things up a bit with some welcome dissonance at times. Much of the material locks into a mid-paced groove with fast rolling double kick drums underpinning it all, though a more syncopated approach is used at times. The standard of musicianship is not surprisingly high and many of the songs have infectious hooks that on the face of it sound fairly simple but repeated plays reveal there’s more going on here than on initial inspection. The album is bookended by a couple of short non-essential instrumental tracks but other than that the quality of the material is strong though I find myself leaning more in favour of the groove laden stuff.

Hats off to Martin Méndez for his selection of sympathetic musicians and producing an original sounding album that doesn’t really sound like anyone else I can think of off the top of my head. Whether this turns out to be a one off project or not I don’t know, but I’d certainly be more than happy to have the opportunity to hear more from this interesting band.

Nightfly I’ve been a fan of Vicious Rumors since their eponymous third album released back in 1990, an album they still haven’t bettered to this day by the way. This was not only down to a great collection of songs but the vocal prowess of the sadly deceased Carl Albert who died in a car crash in 1995. The band have continued to release well played US power metal albums adopting the if it ain’t broke don’t fix it approach apart from a diversion into a more groove metal direction in the late nineties.

Celebration Decay is the bands thirteenth studio album and not surprisingly follows the same template as the last few albums with the usual mixture of up and mid-tempo metal and the occasional plodder. Here though the balance lies more towards the mid-tempo which to be honest is not always to the albums benefit as Vicious Rumors are usually at their best when flying at full pelt. Any Last Words is one of the better mid-paced songs however with a strong hook and a riff that is very reminiscent of another of the bands songs that I annoyingly can’t currently put my finger on. There are some great songs such as Arrival Of Desolation with its galloping riff and rhythm section, something the band seem to do on most albums, there’s the opening title track which is one of the faster songs here. The album seems to run out of steam a bit at times though with the forgettable Darkness Divine being a prime example, not bad by any means, but lacking a memorable hook and guitarist Geoff Thorpe takes over on lead vocals who despite being a fine guitarist is no more than a passable vocalist. It’s followed by the equally plodding Long Way Home. Talking of vocals, since the death of Carl Albert the band seem to have struggled to find a lasting replacement changing vocalists almost every album. The latest recruit is Nick Courtney who whilst having a decent set of pipes struggles to inject much in the way of melody into his performance, something Albert always did, even against the hardest of riffs.

Collision Course Disaster is very welcome as by the time it arrives it’s the first fast song we’ve had for some time. It also boasts one of the albums strongest set of riffs. The album also goes out on a faster note with Masquerade Of Good Intentions.

Celebration Decay is a decent enough album but it’s the bands weakest of the last five, the best being 2011’s Razorback Killers if you’re interested. That’s a shame as the band is usually fairly consistent with releasing strong albums. Nevertheless it’s good to have them back and I’m confident that Vicious Rumors still have great albums in them and next time we’ll have something as good as their last, Concussion Protocol.

Nightfly Bitterness And Burning Hatred is my first encounter with Finnish death metallers Skeletal. Turns out it’s their second album, the first, Dreadful Life being released back in 2017. I must admit that initially I wasn’t blown away by it, in fact it’s an album I’ve been blowing hot and cold with as subsequent plays had me alternating between average, good and very good. Overall though it seems to have left a favourable impression. After all, I’ve returned to it half a dozen times so there must be something there.

Skeletal’s death metal, whilst not getting into the realms of technical DM is pretty busy at times displaying a thrash edge. It’s aided by a crisp and organic sounding production, much preferable to the clinical and sterile sound that pervades plenty of modern death metal, especially at the tech end. From opener, Lower Than Filth, it’s clear these guys can play. Particularly impressive is the guitar work of Make Tiainen and Samuel Lehikoinen who also double’s up as vocalist, reminding me of Martin Van Drunen of Asphyx and ex-Pestilence. In fact on a musical level parallels can also be drawn with early Pestilence around the time of Consuming Impulse and while they don’t pack the sledgehammer approach of Bolt Thrower some of the guitar work shares a similar melancholic vibe that they often display. I’m not sure why this took so long to click as once the riffs get under your skin a surprising amount of melody cuts through, also present on some well thought out guitar solos all nimbly and fluently played. A couple of tracks I was blowing hot and cold with in particular were Concrete Salvation and Razors Edge. The former eventually won me over, simply requiring a few plays to reveal its complexities over its almost six minute length. Razors Edge, almost equal in length didn’t convert me in the end leaving little in the way of a lasting impression despite containing a fine guitar solo. Pick of the bunch for me is opener Lower Than Filth. After a Pacey start with some strong riffs the tempo drops and eventually locks into an insistent groove that had me wanting to hit repeat. Another strong contender is Apathy, at almost seven minutes the longest track on the album displays some progressive influences revealing another layer.

In the end Bitterness And Burning Hatred has come out on top. Not a classic by any stretch but Skeletal have impressed me more than enough to mark them a down as a band I want to keep an eye on and I would be surprised if we had a masterpiece from them in the future at some point.

Nightfly Despite being at the forefront of all things metal in the early 80’s with the “New Wave of British Heavy Metal” the UK was lagging behind, the USA in particular, when thrash metal broke through with bands like Metallica, Slayer, Exodus, Megadeth and Anthrax to name the obvious contenders taking metal into faster and heavier extremes. One of the few acts around at the time that showed the UK could compete was Onslaught. I first came across them on their second album The Force, when I bought it on vinyl, as far as I remember, based on a review in Kerrang! magazine. I was immediately blown away by opener Let There Be Death from its slow burn opening before exploding full pelt into ferocious riffing and drumming. The album was raw and heavy with a great guitar tone. By the follow up the band had recruited former Grim Reaper vocalist Steve Grimett for 1989’s In Search Of Sanity. It was a slicker affair but lacked the ferocious impact of The Force but still contained some strong material. The band split up in the early 90’s, reforming in the mid 00’s. I must admit to not paying a lot of attention to the bands output from 2007’s Killing Peace, their first since reforming but early indications suggested Generation Antichrist, their fourth since reforming was going to be worth checking out.

I’m glad I did as Generation Antichrist shows the band still have what it takes to make a great thrash metal record. Not surprising, down to modern recording techniques, the album is sharper and tighter than their 80’s output. Thankfully the modern production doesn’t rob the album of its ferocity and they’ve released a thrash metal album stuffed with breakneck speed riffs and drumming. From opener (proper) Strike Fast Strike Hard after the short intro Rise To Power the pace rarely lets up. The quality of song writing is strong throughout as is the playing. These days only guitarist Nige Rockett remains from the original line up and bassist Jeff Williams is the only member who played on their last studio album, 2013’s VI. Rockett has recruited a strong band however including vocalist David Garnett who delivers a convincingly raw and aggressive performance and a special mention to new drummer James Perry who is relentlessly fast, tight, powerful and skilful in equal measures. Musically there’s nothing ground-breaking here, and you wouldn’t particularly expect it, but Onslaught have made a totally convincing album with no shortage of killer riffs equal to the new kids on the block and their 80’s contemporaries still in the game alike.

Generation Antichrist is a very welcome return from Onslaught and put me in the mood for checking out those other post-reformation albums more fully. They’ll have to go some to be better than this though. This might just be the best album of their career.

Nightfly Unless they’ve somehow passed me by, great doom metal albums have been a bit thin on the ground lately, perhaps down to all this covid-19 shit. When it’s done right, no better example than the first Avatarium album, doom is as good as any sub-genre of metal you’d care to name but for every great one I could list probably tenfold tedious generic doom by numbers releases by bands who think all that’s required is a slow tempo overlaid by some low tuned sub-standard Sabbath inspired riffing.

It really goes to show how important it is what you listen to your music on as prior to buying a vinyl copy of Stygian Crown’s eponymous debut I’d given it a few listens on Spotify through headphones on the PC. Okay I thought but nothing special, but I was hearing enough that kept me going to back to it and eventually decided to buy it. Once I stuck it on the record deck the monolithic sound of the production really opened it up. Stygian Crown aren’t exactly what you’d call original but they clearly understand what makes a great doom album. The drums and bass are absolutely crushing as are the guitar riffs – a mixture of fuzzy and cleaner tones with some death metal touches thrown in, no doubt down to the fact that three band members also belong to Californian death/black/ thrash metal band Gravehill. The eight compositions, only seven on my vinyl version with When Old Gods Die missing, barring the short The Hall Of Two Truths intro are all of a decent length with nothing under six minutes. Devour The Dead kicks things of proper with a fairly typical slow tempo but soon moves up a gear where the guitars become even heavier. Throughout the album the band use plenty of tempo changes including the occasional faster double kick drum section which keep things from becoming stale. With a weaker vocalist this could have still been a strong album but in Melissa Pinion they have a powerhouse performer. She may not have a massive range but her deep, low and expressive register suits this stuff perfectly. Strong songs are what matters most though and fortunately this album has plenty of them.

I’m trying to be more selective with my music purchases these days, not always successfully, but I’m glad I took the plunge and got this one as it’s turned out to be the best doom album I’ve heard this year so far. If you’re into doom, give it a go, you’ll hopefully love it.

Nightfly I initially thought Black Curse was a new band but they’ve been kicking around since 2015 but only got around to releasing their debut album now. This is no doubt down to the fact that all members have been busy with varying amounts of success in their main bands making Black Curse a supergroup of sorts I guess. In their ranks we have members of Blood Incantation, Spectral Voice, Khemmis and Primitive Man amongst others. Let’s hope this doesn’t turn out to be a one off because it’s fucking brilliant!

Black Curse play an old school blackened style of death metal. No clinical sterile production here. This is raw as hell, the sound dense and crushing. Most of the time they adopt a wall of noise approach, apart from the occasional lull, with riffs that’ll bludgeon you into submission. This takes precedence over a more technical style with most of the songs whilst containing plenty of twists and turns to keep it fresh, are not overly complex. They save the best for last with Finality, I Behold having more great ideas into its nine minutes than many bands manage over the course of a full album. The rest of the album though has no shortage of strong tracks which are almost as good. Listen through the atmospheric murk and you’ll hear a compelling collection of riffs that reveal themselves over repeated plays. If you like Incantations blend of death metal you’ll probably like Black Curse but even they don’t quite manage to create the suffocating density on display here.

Overall then Black Curse have produced a real winner, an album that any death metal fan needs to hear. Whilst it might not get all the accolades heaped on Blood Incantations latest offering from 2019, it’s an album that I’m sure is going to be featuring on best of year lists in six months’ time.

Nightfly Apart from a couple of lacklustre albums – The Beast springs to mind, Vader have been releasing quality death metal for near enough thirty years. A couple of masterpieces – De Profundis and Welcome To The Morbid Reich remain highpoints but now onto their twelfth studio album there’s been no shortage of gems to get stuck into including Litany, Necropolis, Tibi Et Igni and most recently 2016’s The Empire.

Some people felt Vader had gone a bit soft on their last album The Empire. I’m sure they were talking relatively speaking as Vader could never be accused of being soft but I can understand what they were getting at as by death metal standards it was a fairly accessible album. A strong collection of great riffs, quality songs and strong musicianship won me over however and I still rate it very highly. Solitude In Madness should have no problem shutting the doubters up. From the off they hit harder and faster with the aggressive Shock And Awe, a grand statement of intent all over in just over two minutes. Most of the songs are on the short side in fact, but what they lack in length they make up for in ferocity. They still manage to pack a lot into the short time frames making some of them seem longer than they actually are but it’s all over in a mere thirty minutes. There’s no shortage of compelling riffs that soon get under the skin and of course the musicianship is top notch. Drummer James Stewart in particular demonstrating with inventiveness and precision why he’s one of the best in extreme metal. A powerful production is the icing on the cake that really brings this excellent collection of songs to life.

Vader have surpassed themselves with this one and as good as the last couple of studio albums have been I’d say this is their best since 2011’s Welcome To The Morbid Reich putting it up there with the bands best work. When you’ve been doing this as long as Vader have that must take some doing but they attack this stuff with the vigour of a band half their age. Awesome stuff indeed.

Nightfly Must admit to never having come across Beneath The Massacre before. Fearmonger is the fourth album from these Canadian technical death metallers. It’s a sub-genre where I have my favourites like Nile and Death but a lot of it can leave me cold despite the obvious virtuosic musicianship on show which I do enjoy.

Beneath The Massacre fall into the category of bands I admire rather than love, though there’s songs where I did enjoy it. It’s pretty much as I was expecting - Fantastic musicianship, drums that are a blur of blast beats and lightning speed double kicks and fills. Guitar parts that are for the most part a blur of notes and vocals that are of the deep guttural growl variety. Beneath The Massacre do this stuff as well as most bands of their ilk but also suffer from the lack of memorable songs where technique takes precedence over a great riff that I often find with the sub-genre. None of the songs outstay their welcome though with most around the three minute mark or less and with a total running time of just under thirty minutes it’s the perfect length. They do slow things down occasionally and when they do it’s very welcome and they can get quite inventive with it locking into a less complex syncopated groove for a while. The guitar solos are also impressive, even adding a touch of melody here and there. With death metal I generally prefer the production dirtier and on the organic side. Here as is common with this sort of stuff, it’s very clinical but nevertheless clear and powerful.

If this is your type of thing then I can recommend you check Fearmonger out, you may well love it. I warmed to it myself with a few plays and they really nail it at times, favourites probably being Treacherous and Tarnished Legacy which closes the album in fine style capturing them at their most inventive. For myself I’d probably rate it three stars but within the confines of the sub-genre they don’t do much wrong so it’s 3 and half.

Nightfly I was blown away by Vredehammer’s 2016 album Violator, a near perfect slab of blackened death metal, awarding it 5 stars in my review here on MMA. Not surprisingly I was eager to see if they could do it again on album number three, Viperous. Seems like all Vredehammer album titles are going to begin with a V, their debut being called Vinteroffer. Anyway, I digress…

Fortunately they have done it again. After a surprising pulsing synth intro Winds Of Dysphoria kicks in with all guns blazing with the kind of incendiary riffing that drew me to Violator. The line up has changed again with only band leader Per Valla remaining from the Violator album but it does see the return of guitarist Kristoffer Hansen from the debut album. Fortunately the changes hasn’t affected the quality of the songs or the overall sound of the band, although the afore mentioned synths do return from time to time, used more for effect than any major role it has to be said. The pace of the songs is generally fast though they do slow the tempo down from time which is always more effective than relentless blast beats and warp speed double kicks, as important as they are. The riffs are razor sharp and like last time, they inject just enough melody into the songs that make them instantly memorable, but not that much that it affects the brutality of it all. That’s not to say that repeated listens won’t bring further rewards – as with all great albums Viperous takes a few plays to establish its true greatness. The overall quality is very consistent throughout and for examples of what encapsulates their blackened death metal you can more or less take your pick though I have a particular soft spot for the title track and In Shadow.

My initial thoughts on Viperous were that it wasn’t quite as good as Violator but it didn’t take many plays to make me realise that it was equally brilliant. For that reason, like last time I have to award it the full 5 stars. This is going to be one of the albums of this shitty covid infected year for sure. A few more albums of this quality will help raise our spirits no end.

Nightfly Phylogenesis is the fifth album from USA death metallers Abysmal Dawn, their first being From Ashes back in 2006. They’ve been pretty consistent from day one releasing quality albums of technically well played death metal, adopting the if it ain’t broke don’t fix it approach with each album sounding quite similar. Perhaps for that reason they don’t seem to have such a high profile as some of their peers.

Hardly surprising then that once again on Phylogenesis they stick to their tried and trusted template. That’s no bad thing though as they always deliver a quality release. As before the songs are busy, complex and generally fast with no shortage of great guitar work and plenty of breakneck pace double kick drums and blast beats interspersed with fast fills. What it ultimately boils down to is the quality of the riffs that might make one album slightly better than another. Whilst I think the band hit a peak on 2014’s Obsolescence, Phylogenesis is not far behind with a consistent collection of songs that are entertaining throughout. It’s not a constant barrage of breakneck speed though as although that’s their stock in trade they break it up with slower sections where they’ll lock into a groove for a while backed by a powerful and compelling riff.

Another top quality death metal release then from Abysmal Dawn. If you already like them then I’m pretty confident you’ll enjoy this one too, if you don’t then this is not going to change your mind. For me though, if they continue to release albums of this quality I’ll keep buying them.

Nightfly A strange one this for sure, quite unlike any death metal album I’ve heard before. Dahmer, the third album from Chicago band Macabre is a concept album based on USA serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Pretty grotesque subject matter for sure but Macabre inject plenty of humour into their deathgrind/death metal. Having only heard one Macabre album that I don’t remember previously and that was some time ago, it certainly wasn’t what I was expecting.

The humour not only comes in the lyrics but also in the songs the band choose to bastardize from time to time adding their own lyrics to tunes taken from some unexpected sources. The Oompa Loompa song from Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory is Jeffrey Dahmer And The Chocolate Factory here. There’s She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain which is Coming to Chicago and Jeffrey Dahmer Blues is…well… er… a death metal blues song. While this all sounds a bit silly the band are actually pretty good players though the vocals might be an acquired taste for some alternating between a typical death growl and high pitched screech. Most of the songs are pretty short with many under the two minute mark but they make up for this with quantity, there being twenty six tracks in total. Quantity doesn’t equate to quality of course and it’s a pretty mixed bunch. The afore-mentioned parody songs soon wear thin. I mentioned earlier that the band are decent players but some of the songs are a little over simplistic with their riffs lacking substance but then they’ll throw in a surprise by injecting some jazz touches into the pot. The albums at its best musically when they put the quirkiness to one side and play it straight, relatively speaking of course, like on How ‘Bout some Coffee and I like the dissonance on Bath House and Konerak as well as the jazzy touches they throw in from time to time.

Unfortunately the production is a bit on the thin side with a top end heavy drum sound though it is clear but lacks power. Something else that robs it of some of the power is guitarist Corporate Death when playing a solo often plays it with no rhythm guitar backing which momentarily causes it to lose some drive.

Overall then, full marks for originality, approaching it with humour and the concept flows well. What lets it down sometimes is simply that there are quite a few songs that just simply aren’t all that good, lacking strong riffs that have to rely on the humour to carry them. Whilst it’s not an album I’ll be in a hurry to return to, though everyone should hear this at least once, I am curious to check out their other albums to see if they display the same humour and originality as this one.

Nightfly I first came across Lucifer on the release of their debut album back in 2015. Although clearly vocalist Johanna Sadonis’s baby that album greatly benefited from the presence of former Cathedral guitarist Gaz Jennings. Lucifer I was largely a traditional doom metal album and a very good one it was too. Jennings only stuck around for the one album before moving onto the short lived Death Penalty and by II Lucifer had a completely new line up apart from Sadonis including Entombed drummer Nicke Andersson. The sound of the band had also changed with them now going for a retro occult rock/proto metal style.

Moving onto III the band seemed to have settled on the occult rock style with little trace of doom metal in their sound these days. Whilst that’s a shame there’s no denying that III is a good solid example of that retro sound that has been pretty prevalent over the last decade or so. The playing is tight but loose and Sadonis’s smooth and haunting vocal delivery is the perfect voice for this sort of stuff. Overall the songs are more or less what I was expecting with a sound very much rooted in the 70’s. Most are good with some catchy melodies on offer, if a bit on the play it safe side, but there’s nothing here that stands out from the pack to lift the album above the ordinary until final song Cemetery Eyes kicks in with really strong melodic riffing and a slightly longer running time allowing the band to stretch out a bit. A few more songs as good as this one would have raised the bar and earned it an extra star, but it’s too little too late.

Not bad by any means then but in a genre that seems to have been done to death it’s not essential listening and the weakest of their three albums so far I’d say. However if you were a fan of II then I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one too.

Nightfly You may not yet have heard of Berzerker Legion as they have only been active since 2016 and this, Obliterate The Weak, is their debut album. If you’ve had an interest in extreme metal at all though you’ll certainly have heard of many of the bands these guys either currently or previously played with in the past – Dark Funeral, Asphyx, Vader and Wombbath to name just a few. The list is endless, pretty much covering most of the gamut of extreme metal. No shortage of experience then.

Berzerker Legion despite the wide sub-genre experience stick to death metal, pretty much the old school variety with plenty of the melodic Swedish type thrown in. Speed is not the primary concern here, instead an emphasis on crushing riffs with groove and a good supply of melody serves them well on an album brimming with memorable songs that have you wanting to hit the repeat button, at least it would if I wasn’t listening on vinyl. It doesn’t get any better than the title track alternating between a slow crushing groove for the verse and a faster melodic death metal chorus. These guys seem to have a liking for Bolt Thrower too. There’s really no shortage of great music on offer here though with nothing coming across as weak or misplaced. Of course with this amount of experience the playing as expected is exceptionally good and the production is spot on for displaying the power of this band.

I know it’s still early in the year but I haven’t come across loads of great new death metal yet. This is by far my favourite so far. With these guys having so many other musical commitments I really hope this doesn’t turn out to be a one off as it’s a quality release and I’ll look forward to more from them in the future hopefully.

Nightfly Until a few weeks ago I’d never even heard of Butcher. After hearing a couple of advance tracks off 666 Goats Carry My Chariot, their second album, I immediately went in search of their first, Bestial Fukkin Warmachine and was so impressed I ordered the pair of them straight away.

Butcher come from Belgium, a country I don’t have too many metal albums from with only Bathsheba, Saille, Aborted and Enthroned coming to mind. Butcher doesn’t sound like any of them. What we have here is a very retro 80’s sounding blend of speed and thrash metal with a bit of black metal borrowed from Darkthrone thrown in here and there. This stuff is manic from the histrionic often high pitched vocals of R Hellshrieker to the music which is very busy and fast most of the times. Guitarist KK Ripper unleashes an impressive barrage of riffs, licks and solos, the kind that drew me into this kind of extreme metal back in the 80’s.The rhythm section of bassist AH Wrathchylde and drummer LV Speedhammer tie it all down, though their playing is equally busy and at times this frantic melee sounds on the verge of all falling apart, which is not a criticism and is a measure of their skill in holding it all together. It all adds to the retro vibe aided by an analogue (I presume, it certainly sounds it) production. You can imagine this is how the band sound on stage as it has very live feel without loads of overdubs in the guitar department.

I liked the first album very much, which I’d played a few times before getting this, but on 666 Goats Carry My Chariot they have raised the bar with an even stronger collection of songs. I don’t suppose you’ll hear much new music like this this year so lap it up, you won’t regret it.

Nightfly After spending years in Sodom guitarist Bernemann and drummer Markus Freiwald found their services were no longer required by mainman Tom Angelripper. So what are you going to do? Form a band to kick Sodom’s ass of course. Bonded certainly give it a good go and with Rest In Violence they have released an album that to my ears betters recent Sodom releases and even reaches the heights of their best stuff at times.

To say they have bettered recent Sodom releases is high praise indeed as Sodom continues to release excellent thrash metal to this day. Bernemann, Friewald and their new mates, vocalist Ingo Bajonczak, bassist Marc Hauschild and second guitarist Chris Tsitsis have stuck with playing thrash but while there’s plenty of material here that’s belts along at breakneck pace there also slower more groove orientated stuff. The album is stuffed with great songs with strong hooks and an impressive collection of memorable riffs and perfectly demonstrated on the first 3 songs – all killer, the title track featuring none other than Overkill vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth who puts in an expected fine performance. Though having a much lower register Bajonczak is no slouch himself with his powerful and gritty delivery. Je Suis Charlie slows things down somewhat but with its infectious riffing and melody is another winner. In fact these guys barely put a foot wrong. The plodding No Cure For Life doesn’t match the heights of previous tracks but its slow groove still hits the mark down to its strong riff. It’s the more up tempo stuff though where this band really slays and thankfully it’s not in short supply. These guys play well, great guitar work including the solos and a kick ass rhythm section and the sound is tight aided by a crystal clear but powerful production which nails you to the wall.

I’m loving this album, the first 2020 release I’ve bought. There’s a great future for Bonded if they can keep the quality quotient up as shown on Rest In Violence. They have set the benchmark for thrash metal bands this year to beat.

Nightfly How do you follow an album like Winter’s Gate? Insomnium’s masterpiece in my opinion – one continuous forty minute long piece of music, unless you bought the vinyl version then of course it was split in two. Unless you’re a prog band, not with an album of the same format.

Heart Like A Grave see’s the band returning to the shorter song structure of previous albums though some of them are quite long, Pale Morning Star almost hitting nine minutes for example. The sound is unmistakably Insomnium though they’ve gone and done an Iron Maiden and brought in a third guitarist, Jani Liimatainen. He hasn’t made any noticeable difference to their studio sound but I can imagine how live he could be a benefit for the layered guitar sounds, something he has already been doing for some time I believe. Heart Like A Grave delivers exactly what you’d expect from Insomnium. First rate melodic death metal with powerful melodic riffs overlaid by lead runs and interspersed with acoustic lulls and atmospheric sections. The vocals are largely growled of course courtesy of bassist Niilo Sevänen as usual but clean vocals are occasionally brought in which work well and should be used more often. Insomnium have always released strong albums so while Heart Like a Grave is up against some pretty stiff competition they’ve done well to equal and sometimes better their past work here. The band is obviously very comfortable in their style and sound and it shows through a strong sympathetic production. Best of all they maintain the quality level for the whole album.

Once again Insomnium have produced a winner. This is not going to turn heads the way Winter’s Gate did but musically it’s just as good and any fan of the band will not be disappointed. In fact those who felt the single piece of music format of the last album didn’t work will probably prefer the return to individual songs.

Nightfly Back in 2016 I was mightily impressed with the debut album from a little known death metal band from the USA called Blood Incantation. On starting this review I decided to start by referring back to my review of said album, Starspawn. While I could have sworn I’d done a review, apparently not, I’d only rated it – 4 stars by the way. Anyway here we are three years down the road and Blood Incantation are back with another dose of cosmic death metal and they’ve just got even better.

Hidden History Of The Human Race is only four tracks long clocking in at a meagre 36 minutes but thankfully every track earns it’s place here. Slave Species Of The Gods opens up and it sounds immense. With its crushing dissonant riffs and organic production fans of Immolation and Morbid Angel should love it. Likewise The Giza Power Plant which follows though adding some light and shade and getting a bit more trippy over its seven minutes. Compared to their debut the sound here is tighter and not quite as dense – less chaotic. That’s not to say I prefer it that way but HHOTHR shows considerable growth with a more progressive approach. Inner Paths (To Outer Space) was the first track I heard from the album and initially I was a bit concerned. It has a slow build starting with a clean sounding cosmic trippy section and took it’s time before anything resembling death metal kicked in. Hearing it in the context of the album though it works and I like it.

Not surprisingly the highlight of the album is the eighteen minute Awakening From The Dream Of Existence To The Multidimensional Nature Of Our Reality (Mirror Of The Soul) which takes up side 2 of my vinyl copy. It’s a mind blowing death metal trip with some of their heaviest riffs but even including a Pink Floyd-ish lull before kicking back in with full force again. The rhythms twist and turn, constantly shifting mirroring the riffs, never staying in the same place too long and it feels like only half its length. It’s a stunning piece of work and perhaps the finest piece of death metal I’ve heard all year.

Just when I was more or less sorted in my mind on my favourite albums of the year along comes another contender. HHOTHR is a staggering achievement and I can’t wait to see where this band goes next. The future of death metal is in safe hands.

Nightfly It can’t be easy being Entombed A.D. Seemingly destined to always be in the shadow of the band that spawned them, Entombed of course, who were responsible for ground-breaking death metal albums like Left Hand Path and Clandestine. A band who along with others like Dismember established the Stockholm sound and influenced god knows how many imitators with that buzzsaw guitar sound. Entombed A.D. nevertheless have much to offer themselves.

Bowels Of Earth is the bands third release and I’d say it’s the best of the three. You’re not going to find any great leaps in terms of style here but if you have a penchant for straight forward no nonsense death ‘n’ roll then this could be for you. Buzzsaw guitar sound intact the band romps through ten tracks with little variation but plenty of strong riffs and hooks. The album starts off strong with first three tracks – Torment remains, Elimination and Hell Is My Home hitting all the right spots with the later perhaps the pick of the bunch. The rest though is not lacking in quality songs with the band playing with plenty of enthusiasm with only the occasional slight dip in quality but it’s barely noticeable when they do with most of the songs only being around the three minute mark. An unexpected cover of the Hank Williams song I’ll Never Get out Of This World Alive works surprisingly well with Entombed A.D. making it their own. Whilst most of the material runs along at a fair pace they throw in a few slower tempos for parts of some of the songs for variation, though final song To Eternal Night really slows things down and at 5:43 is the longest track here. It’s also a bit of a weak ending to an otherwise great album, dragging somewhat and outstaying it’s welcome.

While I’ve heard a lot of better death metal this year Bowels Of Earth is still a welcome addition and one I’ll be playing pretty regularly over the coming months. Well worth checking out if you’ve ever liked this band and its parent outfit.

Nightfly Despite kicking around for a decade Come Back From The Dead, a death metal band from Spain were unheard of to me, until I recently added them to our database here on MMA that is. Always eager to hear some new death metal that will pummel me half to death I gave this, The Rise Of The Blind Ones, their second album a listen.

Did it do the trick? Well, to be honest not really, but that’s not to say Come Back From The Dead don’t have any merit. They clearly sit in the old school camp and play with no shortage of enthusiasm. Their songs are on the raw side, fairly simply structured but played well enough nevertheless. Vocalist Paul attacks the songs with unrestrained vigour and is the bands greatest asset. These songs whilst not going to set the world on fire occasionally makes me sit up and listen more intently but for the large part its death metal by numbers. They also inject a bit of doom and some punk touches too which is a welcome addition. Death metal should bludgeon the listener into submission but a weak and thin sounding production robs the band of having much hope of doing this. The drums in particular sound very distant at times though drummer Marcos is clearly giving it his all. Something that dawned on me later, that’s unusual in death metal, unless I missed them – no double kick drums. They’re barely missed however with Marcos throwing in no shortage of fast rhythms and fills around the kit.

Come Back From The Dead should not be written off by any stretch and I warmed to this album more with repeated plays but with the glut of great death metal out there they’ll need to follow this up with something a bit more special if they are to make any serious dent in the current scene. I think they have it in them though and the next album with a better production could be a winner.

Nightfly I’m always on the hunt for new bands to check out. Most I come across are average and uninspiring or even total crap. Being competent in this day and age is not enough. Now and again though the search reaps a reward like in the case of Human Cattle, the debut album from Disowning, a death metal band whose members are divided between Canada and France.

From opening track Ghost Area things are looking good. A decent organic production is always a good start as we have here. Straight in with some blast beats and the obligatory double kick patterns over some compelling riffs lifted from the Trey Azagthoth songbook. It’s intoxicating stuff for sure and fortunately it proves not to be a one off. These guys are good and go for an old school vibe. Sure this stuff is fast at times but speed is not the overall objective giving these songs space to breathe and the riffs are immense. Morbid Angel and Immolation come to mind though these guys aren’t outright copyists but they have that similar crushing sound that Immolation do. They also inject some atmosphere into the mix and slow down before they explode into the next barrage of blast beats. Plenty of tempo and rhythm changes keep things interesting as perfectly demonstrated on Intoxicated by This Illusion. There’s nothing more boring than relentless blast beats with no change of tack on every track. You won’t find much in the way of melody though except on some of the lead guitar work which is certainly not a problem to these ears with down tuned heaviness being the top priority.

Human Cattle is not an original sounding album but who gives a shit when it’s this good. Every time I think I’m listening to my favourite track along comes another just as good to replace it. It’s hard to believe this is a debut album such is the maturity of the songs. The standard of musicianship is excellent too with strong vocals from Jesus “The Butcher” which are in the vein and low register of Immolation’s Ross Dolan.

This albums going to be on heavy rotation in my house over the next few months and will almost certainly feature on my best of year list in a few months’ time. You really need to check these guys out even if you just have just a passing interest in death metal, it’s that good.

Nightfly When Memoriam released their debut album “For The Fallen” in 2017 I was expecting great things from them. After all they had two former members of Bolt Thrower in their ranks, the best death metal band to come out of the UK. Whilst it had its moments I was somewhat disappointed – it was certainly heavy but lacked the Sledgehammer bludgeon and strong hooks Bolt Thrower always delivered. Follow up “The Silent Vigil” likewise and felt a bit rushed arriving the following year with a weak production. For album number three, released only a year later again, they have finally nailed it.

The first thing you notice about “Requiem for Mankind” is the production. Here they’ve hired the services of producer Russ Russell and it’s really paid off. The sound is big and for the first time they’ve really captured some of that Bolt Thrower bludgeon. Not only that, but as is immediately evident from opener “Shell Shock” they’ve got the riffs to back it up. Here they really crush and hit hard with just enough melody for them to get firmly under the skin. It’s mainly mid-tempo stuff, injected with groove, also like Bolt Thrower, heaviness taking precedent over speed. Best of all, they keep it up for the whole album with every song earning its place. The band turns in a strong performance – guitars, bass and drums all sounding crushing with Scott Fairfax’s guitar work being particularly good. There’s quite a bit of war themed stuff here but the lyrics also get political on the self-explanatory “Austerity Kills” and delivered with conviction by Karl Willetts.

Despite my earlier comments the first two albums weren’t bad, just ordinary. Here though Memoriam have released an album that can stand head and shoulders with the best death metal the year has to offer. Here’s hoping that album number four, due in 2020 if their current prolific streak keeps going, is just as good if not even better.

Nightfly For what is essentially supposed to be a part time band (see my other Firespawn reviews for info on their day jobs), since releasing their debut album Shadow Realms in 2015 Firespawn have been pretty prolific and are already onto album number three. An album every couple of years is more than most full time bands seem to manage these days. There’s always that danger of inferior work getting released when bands release albums too quickly but there’s no sign of that here with Firespawn remaining consistently excellent since day one.

Abominate more or less follows the template laid down by their first two albums. That being more of an old school death metal style with a modern edge aided by a sharp production but thankfully not getting too far into that clinical sound that permeates many modern death metal releases these days. The standard of the songs is of an overall high standard with no shortage of crushingly heavy and inventive riffs from the two guitarists Victor Brandt and Fredrik Folkare, who also play some fine solos as well. The rhythm section of Matte Modin and Alex Friberg are incredibly tight and despite the speed of much of their playing also manage to inject plenty of groove into their patterns. Vocalist L G Petrov delivers the same guttural growl as on the first two albums which suits the style well even if can be a bit one-dimensional at times.

Overall then Firespawn have delivered the goods yet again with another excellent album putting many full time bands to shame. Hardly surprising though considering the extreme metal pedigree here. I’m now primed for album number four but before that hopefully another Unleashed album to follow the brilliant The Hunt For White Christ.

Nightfly Black metal is a genre I dip in and out of. I have my favourites like Watain, Immortal, Melechesh and Dissection to name a few but I’m far more likely to be listening to death or thrash when it comes to the more extreme side of things. Now and again though something comes along in the black metal field that really grabs my attention. One such album is Heaven That Dwells Within, the second full length release from Canadians Wormwitch.

I’d heard they were a mix of black metal and crust punk. I’ve only had a brief listen to their debut after hearing this but that certainly seems a fair description of Strike Mortal Soil as far as I can recall. Heaven That Dwells Within seems to have reduced the crust quota though that D beat synonymous with crust rears its head from time to time, this being more of a melodic black metal affair with touches of melodic death metal at times. As opener Disciple Of The Serpent Star kicks in Tribulation immediately comes to mind. As the album progresses it’s not a one off either as they share that bands ear for a catchy riff loaded with melancholia. DOTSS happens to be my favourite song on the album but there’s no shortage of other great moments with plenty of variation with drums shifting through blasts, double kicks, D-beats and more. Whilst the vocals are of a fairly standard black metal style they’re well done but the strength of this album lies in its musicality. There’s no shortage of hook laden riffs, tremolo picking, searing licks and melodic solos – something else that reminds me of Tribulation. There’s enough variation to keep things interesting throughout and Lord Of Chains throws in a dose of dissonance which I always like.

I really love this album, probably my most played new release of the last month or so. I can’t see that changing any time soon and this one will certainly make my end of year list, somewhere near the top I suspect. To add to the appeal it has a great cover - a section of the John William Waterhouse painting “The Lady Of Shalott” which looks even better on the vinyl version . If you’re a black metal fan you really need to check this band out if you haven’t already.

Nightfly I’ve read a few things about Demons, the new Savage Messiah album and previous release Hands Of Fate, that make the point that after starting their career as thrash metal hopefuls and making a pretty good job of it, that they have in recent years adopted a more mainstream heavy metal stance. It has been seen as a somewhat backwards step and they are the worse for it. Firstly I find this idea total bollocks. Not that the above is not true but the view that heavy metal is somehow inferior to thrash metal. Now I like thrash as much as the next man but I equally have a fondness for well-played heavy metal and Demons is certainly that.

The album kicks off with Virtue Signal and after a power metal infused start retreats into more typical heavy metal. It packs considerable punch as well as plenty of melody. Next track What Dreams May Come is probably a contender as an example of what the naysayers are getting at. Nevertheless despite its mainstream leanings it’s a likeable enough song with a strong melody. The band occupies similar territory in other songs on the album such as Parachute, The Lights Are Going Out and Until The Shadows Fall, but they’re all played with conviction and not a weak one amongst them. There are still plenty of songs that kick ass and whilst this is primarily a heavy metal record thrash infused riffs are still evident at times even if they may not dominate whole songs. Pick of the bunch would be Heretic In The Modern World, Under No Illusions, Down And Out and Rise Then Fall, all with strong hooks and melodies without sacrificing power.

The band are all good players with a nod to drummer Charly Carreton who gives a fine performance with plenty of inventive fills and rhythmic shifts. Their ace up the sleeve comes in vocalist Dave Silver, a great metal/rock singer in the traditional sense. Kind of a Jon Bon Jovi for metal with more balls. Yes, good clean vocals are hard to beat.

While I’m not overly familiar with all Savage Messiah’s albums I’m enjoying Demons as much as any of them I’ve heard. If traditional heavy metal is your thing you really ought to check this out and I’m definitely going to go back and check out those albums I’ve missed in their back catalogue.

Nightfly Regarded by many to have spawned the death metal genre, Seven Churches, the debut album from Possessed released way back in 1985, whether you agree with that or not was certainly a brilliant and highly influential album. Whilst not bad by any means the follow up Beyond The Gates saw the band retreating into more standard thrash territory. Apart from an EP in 1987 that was pretty much it. Although active again as a live band since 2007 it’s taken some time but finally thirty three years later Possessed are back with a new album though vocalist Jeff Becerra is the sole remaining member of the original band.

The new Possessed remain largely true to the band’s sound of old but whilst Seven Churches despite being generally well played could be a bit sloppy in places. Not surprisingly, the new band come across as much tighter having the benefit of time and modern recording and production techniques at their disposal not to mention being great musicians. After a short intro the album kicks off proper with No More Room In Hell, a song I’d heard a while back being released as a pre-album taster. It comes in all guns blazing, fast with razor sharp and extremely busy guitar riffs. Equal parts death metal and thrash it’s a brilliant statement on intent. Becerra whose vocals are better than they ever were has assembled a fine band that does the Possessed name justice. Guitarists Daniel Gonalez and Claudeous Creamer’s riffs twist and turn with power and precision as well as playing some jaw dropping solos – these guys can shred with the best of them, drummer Emilio Marquez lets rip with a barrage of fast fills and rolling double kicks and bassist Robert Cardenas provides a solid but highly dextrous bottom end.

Hearing this a while back and being mightily impressed had led me to expect great things from the album to come. Fortunately I wasn’t to be disappointed as whilst there’s not really anything here that tops No More Room In Hell much of the rest of the album is as good or not far behind, following track Dominion being a case in point keeping things going at the same breakneck tempo and displaying equal precision. This is the case for most of the album with the tempo rarely slowing down and when it does like on Demon it’s never for a whole song. Faults? None really but at fifty four minutes it’s quite an exhausting listen with little variation in tempo so perhaps a couple of songs shorter might have worked better, but a minor issue.

Some may consider it sacrilege but I believe Possessed have not only equalled their debut, but actually bettered it. This is going to be up there with my albums of the year for sure come December. Hopefully it won’t be another thirty three years before we get another one.

Nightfly Few would argue the importance of Saint Vitus in the doom/traditional doom sphere and they certainly went out on a high with 1995’s Die Healing. Fast forward to 2012 and Lillie: F-65 was their first studio album for 17 years. Bassist Mark Adams and guitarist Dave Chandler remain from the line-up from Die Healing and in came new drummer Henry Vasquez to replace the sadly now deceased Armando Acosta. It also saw the return of Vocalist Scott “Wino” Weinrich (The Obscessed, Wino) replacing Scott Reagers once again.

The sound on Lillie not surprisingly is dominated by Chandler’s fuzzed guitar sound and while he’s never been the most busy player his playing seems even more minimal here as well as upping the fuzz quotient, from Die Healing at least. This to a certain extent seems to rob the riffs of some of their power unfortunately. Weinrich’s vocals whilst doing the job lack the range and expressiveness of Reagers. He was more convincing in The Obsessed to my ears. At only 34 minutes it’s pretty short and whilst there’s a few good songs time is wasted considering the short running time by album closer Withdrawal which is basically three minutes of feedback. Vertigo is better but is really another filler being a short guitar only instrumental. Of the five remaining songs nothing jumps out as great which is disappointing. Pick of the bunch is probably opener Let Them Fall and Blessed Nights. The faster and busier Blessed Nights has the edge but Let Them Fall whilst being very basic has a riff that gets under the skin. The Bleeding Ground for the most part is a bit too basic but scores points for Chandler’s searing guitar solo on the more up tempo ending.

Not the comeback album I would have hoped for from Saint Vitus then after the excellent Die Healing but I know it has its fans. However at the time of writing Saint Vitus have a new album due imminently with Reagers back on vocals. Whilst it’s too early to say, based on the two tracks currently available this is sounding far more like the return I’d have hoped for. Time will soon tell.

Nightfly We’re already a quarter of the way through 2019 and although there’s plenty of time yet, apart from a small handful, I haven’t been overwhelmed by the quantity of great death metal on offer so far. Enter Vltimas then who have come along at just the right time to give a much needed injection of classic death metal. The members of this band, which hopefully won’t turn out to be a one off side-line, should need little introduction to fans of extreme metal. They are David Vincent - ex-Morbid Angel, Flo Mounier – Cryptopsy and Rune “Blasphemer” Eriksen – ex-Mayhem. Having not listened to a lot of Mayhem, or his other bands for that matter, it is Eriksen that is the unknown quantity here from my point of view but the other two have both featured on some of the most essential death metal albums ever released.

Whilst so called supergroups can often add up to less than the individuals taking part that is certainly not the case here. Something Wicked Marches In is an absolute blast from start to finish without a weak track on offer. The playing is phenomenal. Of course Flo Mounier’s credentials as one of the greatest death metal drummers is not in doubt and he turns in an incredible performance displaying his trademark speed and dexterity. David Vincent is one of the best and most recognisable growlers in the business, his work with Morbid Angel made him a legend but why’s he not also playing bass here? All guitar duties are handled by Rune Eriksen and it is he, no doubt partly through my lack of past experience that provides the biggest surprise and turns in a phenomenal performance.

The nine songs don’t really sound like any of the bands that they’re generally associated with though Vincent sounds like you’d expect so you can’t help thinking Morbid Angel. Not surprisingly Eriksen brings a blackened touch to his riffs with plenty of tremolo picking and a healthy dose of dissonance injected too. It’s really his guitar work that defines the songs as his riffs are never less than inventive and captivating. When he gets into serious tremelo picking he impresses with a blur of notes but then will shift into something simpler and heavier in a flash and then into atmospheric arpeggios. It’s this variety that really makes the album. Of course Mounier’s blur of blast beats, breakneck speed fills and double kick drums backs it all up to perfection so Eriksen can’t take all the credit. Vincent’s vocals too are also integral to the success of the album as his clear growl attests. Picking favourites is not easy as with all great albums overall consistency is essential and present here but if pushed I’d go for Last Ones Alive Wins Nothing, Everlasting and Praevalidus as pick of the bunch, between them perfectly encapsulating the scope of this great band.

I really hope this doesn’t turn out to be a one off project as this band is too good to leave us with only one album. As I said earlier I’m not familiar with most of Eriksen’s work so can’t comment but as far as Vincent and Mounier go, neither have been involved in anything as good as this for some time despite the last couple of Crpytopsy EP’s being rated very highly by me.

Nightfly It was very sad news last year when it was announced that Malevolent Creation vocalist Brett Hoffmann had passed away after a battle with colon cancer. The 13th Beast, their 13th studio album naturally, comes only 6 months after his passing suggesting that the current line-up was already in place before his death. There’s been plenty of musicians through the ranks of Malevolent Creation over the years and there’s a completely new line-up here since 2015’s Dead Man’s Path with original guitarist Phil Fasciana the only person left.

Fortunately as is immediately apparent on opener End The Torture that it doesn’t seem to have made a lot of difference to the overall sound of the band. The 13th Beast continues their tradition of aggressive Death metal with thrash overtones. It’s all pretty full on relentless stuff with only occasional dips in tempo but the albums stuffed with great riffs preventing any feeling of monotony setting in. You’ll find a few less than stellar albums in the bands mid-period but the last few albums have all hit the spot for me and The 13th Beast follows suit and is as good as anything they’ve released in the last 10 years to my ears. Whilst few songs particularly stand out this is more a mark of the overall quality than any particular weakness in any of them though End The Torture and The Beast Awakened may just be my pick of the bunch for no other reason than the strength of the guitar riffs.

All the new guys do the name justice and play really well with drummer Philip Cancilla being particularly impressive with his dexterity on the usual array of blast beats, fast fills and speedy double kick patterns. New vocalist Lee Wollenschlaeger, who’s also on guitar, has a lower register than Hoffmann and more one dimensional in his delivery but is certainly an adequate replacement.

No great surprises here then but Malevolent Creation’s reputation thankfully remains intact with a great death metal album to get the year off to a good start.