Warthur Sometimes you need to go away to get a better handle on where you come from. Every so often, a band comes along who ends up going on a musical journey far away from the style which they originally made their names with, only to return to that genre and produce some of their best material within that format thanks to the broader musical perspective and the expanded range of techniques that journey has invested them with. Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, for instance, drifted away from their early death-doom style for much of their middle career, only to produce some of their best albums in that vein once they came back to it.

Now, with The Last Will and Testament, Opeth have pulled off the same trick. For their run of albums from Heritage onwards, they've been more in a traditional progressive rock vein than the blend of proggy death metal and death-inflected prog metal that put them on the map. However, in the album preceding this one - In Cauda Venenum - echoes of heavier styles could be heard if you listened carefully, spurring speculation that they might one day make their big return to metal. That's what they have done here. Sure, it has plenty of quieter passages - but so has Still Life or Blackwater Park; unambiguously, The Last Will and Testament sees Opeth returning to the prog-death kingdom they founded, Mikael Åkerfeldt even breaking out old-school harsh vocals here and there alongside his clean vocals.

At the same time, this isn't a retreat to Opeth's comfort zone so much as it's a new departure. It's a concept album, like Still Life, but goes deeper into that territory than that album did, with an even bigger focus on presenting a narrative and even throwing in a touch of theatrical flair absent from that work. The story is all about a family who come together to hear the reading of the titular will - the final testament of their tyrannical, estranged patriarch. In that sense, bringing back the harsh vocals just plain makes sense - if you want to capture all these characters' perspectives, the more distinct voices the better. In fact, Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull fame not only provides some flute contributions here and there, but also throws in some narration here and there.

But where this really offers a departure is the way that Opeth's four-album expedition into retro-prog territories has polished and refined their command of the less heavy side of their sound, with quiet moments of folk-tinged or classically orchestrated music worked in to excellent effect. Having Anderson along for the ride becomes doubly appropriate, because whilst the style here is far from retro, it's learned enough lessons of the past to truly claim to be part of a musical tradition you can trace back all the way through Anderson's pioneering work with Jethro Tull (along with Anderson's other first-wave prog peers).

Maybe you love both classic-period Opeth and their more recent prog-embracing, metal-abjuring works, in which case you don't really need this review - you're going to listen to Last Will and Testament sooner or later anyway and you'll probably enjoy it just as much as the rest of their discography. But this is also an excellent album for anyone who's pickier about their Opeth. If you loved their metal-oriented work but felt that the albums from Heritage on went in a direction you weren't inspired to follow, then this may well be a great point to get back on board, because they're offering sounds here they've allowed to lie fallow for over a decade. If, on the other hand, you came onboard with their recent work but aren't quite keen on their metal side, this might put you off - but I'd encourage you to give you a try, because this might be the "in" you needed to really get to grips with the band's metal roots.

As for me, I think it easily slots into the top tier of Opeth releases. At the very least, it's their best metal-oriented album since Ghost Reveries, and it may well be on a par with any of their other studio efforts.

UMUR "Never, Neverland" is the third full-length studio album by US heavy/gothic metal act Unto Others. The album was released through Century Media Records in September 2024. It´s the successor to "Strength" from september 2021.

Stylistically not much has happened since "Strength". Unto Others are still a guarantee for high quality heavy/gothic metal. The songs are 2-3 minutes long vers/chorus stuctured and relatively easily accesssible. If something a bit different should be mentioned it would be the inclusion of the relatively hard edged and riff heavy "Momma Likes the Door Closed", but other than that song plus a few other heavier moments (the semi-thrashy "Flatline" is another), "Never, Neverland" is generally a pretty melodic and instantly sing-a-long type release often leaning closer to 80s influenced gothic rock like The Mission than towards any form of heavy metal.

"Never, Neverland" is a well produced release, although it´s lacking some of the heaviness and power of the two preceding releases. This is generally a more rock music oriented release and the production values naturally follow suit. The band (who´s lineup has remained unchanged since "Strength") is as well playing as ever and lead vocalist/guitarist Gabriel Franco still sounds like a more angry and potent Robert Smith (The Cure). Upon conclusion "Never, Neverland" is a good quality release from Unto Others, but to my ears not quite as great as the two albums before it. A 3 - 3.5 (65% star) rating is warranted.

UMUR "In Chambers of Sonic Disgust" is the fifteenth full-length studio album by Danish death metal act Illdisposed. The album was released through Massacre Records in June 2024. It´s the successor to "Reveal Your Soul for the Dead" from August 2019. There have been one lineup change since the predecessor as guitarist Ken Holst has returned to the fold after leaving in 2019 and not performing on "Reveal Your Soul for the Dead". Illdisposed are therefore a quintet again on "In Chambers of Sonic Disgust".

If you´re familiar with the last couple of Illdisposed releases the heavy and groove laden death metal style found on "In Chambers of Sonic Disgust" won´t be a surprise, neither will the occasionally more atmospheric and melodic death metal leanings surprise you much. "In Chambers of Sonic Disgust" is everything you expect to hear on an Illdisposed album in 2024. What is unfortunately a bit disappointing is the relatively powerless production job courtesy of Tue Madsen. It´s a detailed and as such well sounding production, but compared to the last couple of Illdisposed releases this one sounds a bit more tame and lacking power (the bass drums for example sound limb).

Unfortunate production choices or not, Illdisposed still understand how to write an effective and memorable death metal tune and "In Chambers of Sonic Disgust" features several songs which the band can be proud of. Upon conclusion "In Chambers of Sonic Disgust" is a solid release from Illdisposed but unfortunately not among their best efforts and a 3 star (60%) rating is therefore warranted.

UMUR "Serpent Devourment" is the third full-length studio album by Danish death metal act Maceration. The album was released through Emanzipation Productions in January 2025. It´s the successor to "It Never Ends..." from November 2022. "It Never Ends..." was a comeback album from Maceration who at that time had not released an album since the 1992 "A Serenade of Agony" debut full-length studio album. Maceration was originally a project band formed by two members of Invocator and "A Serenade of Agony" also featured the prolific Swedish musician/producer Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity, Bloodbath, Nightingale...etc.) on vocals. Swanö also performed vocals on "It Never Ends...", but on "Serpent Devourment" he doesn´t perform, but is instead responsible for the mixing and mastering of the album. Since "It Never Ends..." almost the entire lineup has actually changed and it´s only guitarists Jakob Schultz and Robert Tengs (who has switched from bass to guitar) who remain from the lineup who recorded "It Never Ends...".

Stylistically this sounds very Swedish...the guitar tone, the mid- to fast-paced brutality, and the relatively simple structures of the tracks. I´m often reminded of especially Grave (and occasionally of Dismember), although Maceration add more gloomy atmospheric moments with lead guitar themes and solos. The musicianship and the sound production are top notch for the genre, and the songwriting is effective and relatively memeorable too, so although "Serpent Devourment" is neither a huge surprise (it´s more or less the naturel development I had expected since "It Never Ends...") nor a standout album in the genre, it´s a solid effort from Maceration and defnitely worth a listen if you´re interested in old school Scandinavian death metal. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Warthur Talk about your dramatic turns of events! With Mike Portnoy returning to Dream Theater out of the blue and Mike Mangini bowing out with good grace (so far as we can tell), expectations where high for this album. It's not that the Mangini era of the band is outright bad, so much as it's rather mixed; A Dramatic Turn of Events was pretty solid, but their self-titled album was less celebrated and The Astonishing met with a serious backlash.

Notably, with the latter they abandoned their usual full-band collaborative approach to songwriting, Petrucci and Rudess handling all the music themselves and Petrucci writing the lyrics solo, further contributing to the sense that the well-honed Dream Theater creative engine wasn't quite working as it should. Then again, Distance Over Time and A View From the Top of the World seemed to find the band back on an upward swing - the question was, would the return of Portnoy reinvigorate the band or disrupt them just as their creative process was recovering from the weird experiment of The Astonishing?

Before you even get to the music here, you're confronted with cover art that seems designed specifically to build high expectations. Sure, it's a spookier, gloomier image than we've become used to from Dream Theater (though not so much that it feels completely uncharacteristic), but what really jumps out about it is that it's a big riff on the Images and Words cover; we've got an older girl stood next to her bed, and whilst the surreal features of the Images and Words cover suggested the colourful imagery of dream, here we're stepping more into the realm of nightmare.

So not only is this Portnoy's big comeback, but it's being set up as this big thematic sequel to the band's breakthrough album - if Images and Words was Songs of Innocence, this is Songs of Experience. Lyrically and thematically, this continues right into the album itself; "Parasomnia" is a term for a particular category of sleep disorders, and the songs here are all about sleep paralysis, nightmares, and other things of that nature. It's not a narrative concept album so far as I can tell, but it's definitely a thematic one, with the band taking us all on a thrilling trip through the realm of nightmare.

If the album's cover and lyrics showcase thematic unity, the credits suggest the return of the fivefold creative partnership responsible for the success of this lineup's successful run from Metropolis Part II to Black Clouds & Silver Linings. To the extent that Mangini got credits for songwriting, he did because Dream Theater typically share the credit for all of their musical compositions and generally only go for individual credits when it comes to song lyrics - which Mangini notably contributed much less of than Portnoy had. Portnoy's back on the lyrics again here, and one can only assume that he's settled back into making contributions to the musical compositions too, since all five men in this lineup had become well-used to workshopping ideas with each other.

All of this show of unity and co-operation would come to nothing if the music didn't hold together of course, and I'm happy to report that this is a decidedly strong Dream Theater album. It's not on the level of albums I'd personally put on the absolute tippy-top tier of the band's output - Images & Words, Metropolis Part II, and Octavarium - but it's a decidedly solid effort which refreshes their customary style with the combination of a well-defined and tightly targeted atmosphere and mood on the one hand, and on the other an injection of a few more gleeful retro-prog influences into the mix than we've heard on recent albums from the group.

One suspects Portnoy may have had a hand in that, given that he'd spent much of his time away from the group working with Neal Morse (both on Morse's own projects as bandleader and in more collaborative contexts like Transatlantics), and anyone who's that keen to keep contributing to Neal's prog projects probably has a healthy appetite for old-school prog stuff, but at the same time this isn't so much of a divergence from A View From the Top of the World as to represent an outright repudiation of that album, or the Mangini era as a whole.

Really, my biggest criticism of it is the needless Images and Words nod on the front cover - I think it's silly of the band to implicitly invite such comparisons when this isn't really a throwback to that era. The group aren't rewinding the clock here or pretending the last few albums didn't happen - they aren't hopping back to a pre-Mangini period, it's more like Mangini tagging out and Portnoy tagging in back in, the group carrying the lessons learned forward. It remains to be seen whether this new era of the band will have the staying power of the last time this particular lineup was all together - like I said, the Mangini era did start strong before it got into the weeds a little - but whilst this isn't a revolution in the band's sound, it's still a promising start.

UMUR "Chronicles of Lunacy" is the seventh full-length studio album by German death metal act Defeated Sanity. The album was released through Season of Mist in November 2024. It´s the successor to "The Sanguinary Impetus" from 2020. Both "Disposal of the Dead / Dharmata" (2016) and "The Sanguinary Impetus" saw Defeated Sanity toying with a more technical and at times even progressive death metal sound, but "Chronicles of Lunacy" is a slightly more back to the roots brutal death metal release...

...which of course isn´t completely true. Defeated Sanity have learned a few tricks from creating the last couple of albums, and "Chronicles of Lunacy" is still a highly technical death metal release. The technical playing is on this release just an element of the band´s brutal death metal sound, instead of being one of the pillars of said sound, which was the case on the last couple of releases. Defeated Sanity are an incredibly well playing unit and especially band founder and drummer Lille Gruber plays some otherwordly fast-paced and difficult drum patterns. It´s hard not to drop the jaw while listening to his playing. The vocals are unintellible and quite one-dimensional growling. They are as on most Defeated Sanity releases the weak link of the music.

The raw, brutal, and massive sound production suits the music well, and upon conclusion "Chronicles of Lunacy" is another strong statement from Defeated Sanity. It´s nice to hear them returning a bit to the more brutal sound of their past while still holding on to the more mature and intriguing songwriting approach of the last couple of releases. I think they´ve found a good balance on this album. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Altered Realities" is the debut full-length studio album by Norwegian death/thrash metal act Sovereign. The album was released through Dark Descent Records in January 2024. Sovereign formed in 2018 and their first release was the 2018 "Iron Cast" single. In 2019 the eponymously titled demo and a few more singles followed. The "Neurotic" EP was released in 2020.

Stylistically Sovereign travel a similar sci-fi themed technical thrash metal path as artists like Cryptic Shift, Vektor, Cryptosis, Dissimulator, and Obliveon (just to mention a few of the more prolific artists in the genre), but they are generally a bit more unhinged and savage and maybe bit less sophisticated. When they are most fast-paced, energetic, and caustic sounding I´m reminded of early Sadus (and even Merciless). So this is technical thrash metal bordering aggressive old school death metal albeit predominantly leaning towards the thrash metal side of things. Relentlessly aggressive, fast-paced, and highly energetic, but also with moments of more melodic sophistication. The vocals are raw, aggressive and hoarse shouting.

The quality of the songwriting is high throughout, the performances are top notch, and "Altered Realities" also features a raw, detailed, and powerful sounding production job, so upon conclusion it´s a good quality debut release from Sovereign. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Chytridiomycosis Relinquished" is the debut full-length studio album by UK, Leeds based death metal act Slimelord. The album was released through the 20 Buck Spin label in March 2024. Slimelord formed in 2019 and released the "The Delta Death Sirens" EP the same year. Two more EPs followed in 2021 and 2022, and in 2023 Slimelord released the "Spells at the Ismuth" live album. Three of the five members of the lineup who recorded "Chytridiomycosis Relinquished" are also members of UK technical thrash metal act Cryptic Shift and appear on their May 2020 "Visitations from Enceladus" debut full-length studio album.

Stylistically the material on "Chytridiomycosis Relinquished" is in an almost abstract sounding death metal style. The gutteral growling is low in the mix and works as a cavernous presence in the busy, chaotic, and at times quite technical sound of Slimelord, although the vocals at times take on a more aggressive snarling tone. This is sometimes dissonant technical death metal, but other times it´s filthy, death-doomy, and gloomy death metal. It´s quite adventurous and creative music, and Slimelord deserve a lot of praise for being as bold and unconventional as they are. This is not easy listening music, but the tracks flow nicely and the many different riffs, the well played morbid leads, rhythms, and song structures ensure that "Chytridiomycosis Relinquished" is one long interesting and intriguing listen. Artists like Spectral Voice and to a lesser degree the related Blood Incantation are to my ears valid references. There´s a similar combination of old school death metal values and progressive/experimental songwriting present on this release, although Slimelord of course have a sound of their own.

"Chytridiomycosis Relinquished" is a well sounding album, featuring a powerful, raw, and brutal sound production, which suits the material well. The people responsible for the recording, mixing, and mastering of the album deserve recognition for the job they´ve done. This is the perfect sound for the music featured on "Chytridiomycosis Relinquished". Upon conclusion Slimelord have released a high quality debut album, and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "High Impact Violence" is the debut full-length studio album by Australian, Melbourne based death metal act Gutless. The album was released through Me Saco Un Ojo Records in November 2024. Gutless formed in 2018 and released the "Mass Extinction" demo the same year. They released a split with US death metal act Mortal Wound in 2020 and the "A Live Execution" live album in 2021.

...and label mates in Mortal Wound and another contemporary death metal act like 200 Stab Wounds are arguably valid references. Old school death metal but with a more contemporary twist. The latter manifests in heavy groove laden brutality and a generally more focused emphasis on groove laden riffs and rhythms than what you find on most old school death metal releases. When that is said "High Impact Violence" is still predominantly an old school leaning death metal release. The vocals are aggressive growling delivered in a staccato punchy style.

"High Impact Violence" features a powerful, raw, and brutal sounding production job, which suits the material well, and upon conclusion it´s a good quality debut album from Gutless. You won´t find much new here, but Gutless have managed to put well known musical elements together in the powerful and effective fashion, and fans of raw and aggressive old school death metal should find a lot to appreciate here. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "The Anus of the World" is the debut full-length studio album by US, California based death metal act Mortal Wound. The album was released through Me Saco Un Ojo Records in May 2024. Mortal Would formed in 2018 and released the "Forms of Unreasoning Fear" demo the same year. They released a split with Australian death metal act Gutless in 2020.

Despite the somewhat humorous/silly album title, Mortal Wound aren´t a comedy death metal act, although they certainly integrate some humour in their songtitles and lyrics, which songtitles like "Royally Fucked Forever" and "Even the Jungle Wanted Him Dead" are proof of (the many shorter interlude tracks/samples featured on the album are also quite humorous and nice breathers between the more regular death metal tracks). The actual music is old school death metal but with a more contemporary production job. Not completely unlike a contemporary artist like 200 Stab Wounds. The vocals are relatively unintelligible deep growling placed at the forefront of the mix. They sound a bit like 90s Chris Barnes (Cannibal Corpse, Six Feet Under).

"The Anus of the World" is a well produced death metal release, and Mortal Wound are a well playing band too. Paired with the effective, relatively varied (tempo changes, brutal grooves, and morbid leads), and solid songwriting, "The Anus of the World" is upon conclusion a good quality debut album from Mortal Wound, and they are definitely an act worth following. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Demonolatry" is the debut full-length studio album by Norwegian, Oslo based death metal act Abhorration. The album was released through Invictus Productions in September 2024. Abhorration formed in 2020 and released the "After Winter Comes War" demo in 2021. The lineup includes (among others) Nekromantheon and Obliteration guitarist Arild Myren Torp.

Featuring 6 tracks and a total playing time of 36:49 minutes, Abhorration waste no time getting the party started, sandblasting the listener´s skin with album opener "Chamber of Agilarept"...what a raw, ultra fast-paced, and intense death metal assault on the ears. Think a more filthy and savage version of early Morbid Angel and you´re halfway there. The rawness and intensity of the sound and the performances are through the roof, but Abhorration are technically well playing too and deliver a precise although still organic attack. Vicious, brutal, and unrelentingly aggressive are valid words to describe the sound of "Demonolatry". Other than Morbid Angel, who are the most obvious influence, I´d mention artists like Angelcorpse, Repugnant, and a contemporary act like Oxygen Destroyer as valied references too (and of course the usual suspects in Possessed and Morbid Saint).

The sandpaper raw blackened death/thrash vocals, the fast-paced powerful drumming, and the many brilliant riffs and screaming chromatic solos. This should be a treat to fans of the genre. Personally it gives me hope that artists still exist who prove themselves capable of delivering music in this style and in such high quality as Abhorration do. There´s a sad shortage of this type of music in a world which more an more seems to favor cold, mechanical, and sterile sounding death metal. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Dansktop i Drop​-​Tuning" is an EP release by Danish goregrind act Rådden Rektalvæske (Rotten Rectal Fluid). The EP was independently released in August 2024. Rådden Rektalvæske formed in 2023 and released the "Skidt ud som et misfoster / Kraniemukkert" single later that year. "Dansktop i Drop​-​Tuning" is the band´s second official release.

Stylistically there´s been quite the development since the crude and primitive "Skidt ud som et misfoster / Kraniemukkert" single, which honestly didn´t give any positive indications of future greatness for Rådden Rektalvæske. This is still pretty basic goregrind with a couple of heavier brutal death metal moments and Danish language lyrics (which are quite vile and obscene/perverted), but the quality of the sound production, the performances, and the songwriting have been upped considerably since the release of the "Skidt ud som et misfoster / Kraniemukkert" single.

Upon conclusion "Dansktop i Drop​-​Tuning" may not be the most unique nor the best quality goregrind release out there, but it´s a decent quality release overall, and entertaining enough while it plays. A 3 star (60%) rating isn´t all wrong.

UMUR "Septic Worship (Intolerant Spree of Infesting Forms)" is the debut full-length studio album by Danish, Copenhagen based goregrind/death metal act Septage. The album was released through Me Saco un Ojo Records in March 2024. Septage formed in 2020 and released a couple of EPs/splits before recording and releasing "Septic Worship (Intolerant Spree of Infesting Forms)". "Septic Worship (Intolerant Spree of Infesting Forms)" was the band´s only full-length studio album released during their original run, as they disbanded in 2024.

Stylistically the material on the 15 tracks, 20:21 minutes long album is total early-Carcass worship. It´s goregrind with the occasional death metal part with all three members of the band providing different types of slimy growling. Think how "Reek of Putrefaction" would sound with a professional, detailed, and less murky sounding production job and you´re halfway there.

Now, there are multible Carcass clones on the scene already, so do we really need another one? The answer is of course yes, yes, and yes. There will always be room for another Carcass worship act, and when the worshipping is done as respectful and authentic as it´s done here and even with the added bonus that Septage have added just a tiny elements of something unique writing almost all their lyrics about feces, urin, septic tanks, and other toilet related matters, I´m as happy as a pig in shit...a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Purulence Gushing From the Coffin" is the debut full-length studio album by one-man Mexican death metal act Stenched. The album was released through Me Saco Un Ojo Records in November 2024. Stenched was formed in 2023 by Adrian Thule (who also operates Impending Rot), who performs all instruments and vocals on the album. Stenched released the "Gorging on Mephitic Rot" demo in 2023 but none of the material featured on the demo have survived and have been included on "Purulence Gushing From the Coffin".

It doesn´t take much more than a couple of minutes listening to "Purulence Gushing From the Coffin", to understand that Stenched is dealing in filthy, gloomy, cavernous old school death metal and it´s contemporary artists like Undergang and Cryptworm who I´m reminded of in addition to early 90s death metal artists like Autopsy, Coffins, and Incantation. So it´s quickly established that Stenched is not concerned with creating music with an original sound. Thule is instead content delivering a high quality old school death metal product and he certainly succeeds in doing exactly that.

"Purulence Gushing From the Coffin" is a prime example of filthy and cavernous old school death metal done right. It´s gloomy and morbid, often death/doomy mid- to slow paced, but does feature the occasionally more faster paced section, and the vocals are deep unintellible growling buried low in the mix. It´s all delivered with the right organic touch and as the icing on the cake "Purulence Gushing From the Coffin" features a production job, which perfectly suits this type of music. Clear enough for you to capture all details of the music, but at the same time filthy and raw to the maximum, providing the perfect platform for this type of death metal to shine. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Tortured at the Depths" is the debut full-length studio album by US, California based death metal act Submerged. The album was released through New Standard Elite in April 2024. Submerged formed in 2023 and released a demo the same year. All material from the demo have been re-recorded and included on "Tortured at the Depths".

The album features 8 tracks and a total playing time of 21:01 minutes, but trust me when I tell you, that 21:01 minutes is more than enough. It sounds like a very negative statement, but it´s actually not meant as negative as it may read. It´s just that the material on the album is such as pummeling, massive, and one-dimensional brutal death metal style, that if you listen to this for more than 20-25 minutes your brain is likely to explode and your skin begin to melt. It´s such an intense and brutal listening experience that few people will probably be able to survive had the album been any longer.

Submerged are a well playing unit, delivering their tecnhically well played brutal death metal with great skill. That to my ears is the main asset of "Tortured at the Depths". The songwriting is relatively one-dimensional and the unintelligible growling vocals are equally one-dimensional and delivered without much emotion. They are just there and almost work as an extra instrument in the already busy, meaty, and massively brutal soundscape. The "empty barrel" snare drum sound stand out in the mix and leads the way in an otherwise chaotic sounding sonic landscape.

It´s hard to evaluate an album like this, because Submerged do many things right, but there are also a couple of things they could have done better. My main complaint is the songwriting. The tracks are incredibly hard to tell apart, as they feature no hooks or memorable parts, and my secondary complaint is the one-dimensional and emotionless growling vocals. When that is said there are still enough quality elements on "Tortured at the Depths" to warrant a 3 star (60%) rating.

UMUR "Sickening Indulgence of Flesh" is the debut full-length studio album by US, California based death metal act Regurgitated Entrails. The album was released through New Standard Elite in May 2024. Regurgitated Entrails formed in 2022 and released a demo the same year. No tracks from the demo have surviced to be re-recorded for "Sickening Indulgence of Flesh".

Stylistically the material on the 7 tracks, 24:24 minutes long album is brutal death metal. It´s relatively standard for the genre. Performed with great technical skill, tempo changes, a one-dimenional unintelligible growling vocalist (which sometimes sounds like his vocals are processed and effect laden), and tracks which are very hard to tell apart. The empty barrel snare drum sound provides some clarity in an otherwise meaty, brutal, and pummeling soundscape. I´m often reminded of artists like Devourment and Defeated Sanity.

One thing is for sure...Regurgitated Entrails take no prisoners. They are uncompromising and the brutality level is turned to 11 at all times during the album´s playing time. A little more variation wouldn´t have hurt, and it would have been nice to find a hook or two here and there, which could have aided the listener in navigating the album and maybe tell the tracks apart. When that is said "Sickening Indulgence of Flesh" is still a good quality release and fans of the most uncompromising brutal death metal should be able to appreciate it. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Necrologia del sadismo: Excerpts from a Deranged Mind" is the debut full-length studio album by German, Marburg based death metal act Putridarium. The album was released through Night Terrors Records in November 2024. Putridarium formed in 2020 and they have released quite a few demos and splits (and the 2023 "An Exploration of Burial Perversions" compilation album) before being signed for the release of "Necrologia del sadismo: Excerpts from a Deranged Mind".

Stylistically "Necrologia del sadismo: Excerpts from a Deranged Mind" is an old school, raw, brutal, slimy, and horror/gore drenched death metal release. It´s predominantly mid-paced, brutal, and heavy, but also features faster parts and slower doomy parts (the instrumental horror movie soundtrack sounding "Ossario Nelle Grida" provides a giallo atmosphere and is a nice mid-album breather). This is very true to the core values of old school death metal and calling this album particularly original or unique sounding wouldn´t be true. They remind me a bit of the Incantation-related Disma or maybe a slightly less cavernous Undergang. When that is said Putridarium are a well playing unit, and they obviously have a great understanding of what works when you compose and play this type of music. The vocals are brutal growling, but an occasional higher pitched scream is heard here and there.

"Necrologia del sadismo: Excerpts from a Deranged Mind" features a powerful, raw, and detailed sound production, but personally I wouldn´t have minded an even filthier and more rotten sounding production job, but this is arguably a well produced release as it is. Upon conclusion Putridarium enter the death metal scene with a good quality death metal release and fans of the more raw, filthy, and cavernous part of the old school death metal spectrum should find a lot to appreciate here. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "God is Violence" is the debut full-length studio album by US, California based grindcore act Cancer Christ. The album was released through Seeing Red Records in January 2024. Cancer Christ formed in 2020 and released the "The Blood of Jesus" EP in October 2021. A couple of years later the "Satan Is A Bitch" appeared in June 2023. Some of the material from the two EPs have been re-recorded and included on "God is Violence". The main duo lineup of Tommy Meehan (Snake Boss on Noise Guitars, Vocals, Samples) and Anthony Mehlhaff (Saint Anthony on vocals) are complimented by new commers Piss Snake (bass, vocals), Diesel Snake (guitars), and Apocalypse Snake (drums).

Stylistically this is noisy and raw grindcore featuring samples and some raw and aggressive shouted hardcore vocals. comparisons to Pig Destroyer and especially to Agoraphobic Nosebleed are valid. I´m often reminded of the filth, noise, and depravity of the latter...also when it comes to the lyrics which are quite twisted and extreme. Cancer Christ are known for delivering chaotic live shows and for always wearing snake/reptilian masks on stage, which could suggest that they are a novelty joke band, but nothing could be further from the truth and the 20 tracks on the 26:09 will convince you otherwise if you give the album a listen.

This is both very well performed, well produced, and even more important incredibly well composed. Cancer Christ is a prime example of high quality grindcore, which offers a lot more than just relentless blast beats and primitive songwriting. This is quite sophisticated in its own right, although Cancer Christ never forget aggression, brutality, and the right filthy attitude. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

UMUR "Fossil Gardens" is the sixth full-length studio album by Greek progressive metal act Hail Spirit Noir. The album was released through Agonia Records in June 2024. It´s the successor to "Mannequins" from September 2021 and although Hail Spirit Noir haven´t returned in the sextet lineup who recorded their fourth full-length studio album "Eden in Reverse" (2020), they have returned in rock group format with drums, guitars, bass, keyboards/synths, and vocals. The reason for mentioning this is that "Mannequins" was an experimental synthwave release featuring only the (at the time) two keyboardists of the group and lead vocalist Cons Marg.

"Mannequins" was always meant to be a one-off experiment, and "Fossil Gardens" sees Hail Spirit Noir returning to their psychedelic/progressive black metal roots. We do get a little bit of "Mannequins'" sound and melodies as opening track "Starfront Promenade" features select melodic themes from the "Mannequins" title track. It´s pretty interesting to hear what was originally a synth pop track transformed into a progressive black metal song, but it says a lot about the eclectic and adventurous nature of Hail Spirit Noir.

While "Starfront Promenade" a bit deceivingly opens "Fossil Gardens" with a mellow melancholic clean vocal section, and there are several other moments on the album which belong in psychedelic/progressive rock/metal territory, "Fossil Gardens" is actually one of the harder edged and most black metal leaning albums yet from Hail Spirit Noir. At least when they play harder edged sections. There´s bite and black metal snarling and aggression (and even blast beat sections) here which are sharper and more caustic/chaotic sounding than what we´ve normally been treated to on the preceding releases from the band. The atmosphere is often epic in scope (almost symphonic black metal styled at times), but just as soon turns melancholic or psychedelic. The many tremolo picked melancholic guitar melodies are just gorgeous and feel massive, leaving an intense impact on the listener.

When your ears get adjusted to this more extreme black metal style, "Fossil Gardens" is still unmistakably the sound of Hail Spirit Noir (...and it´s not that extreme), and it´s an incredibly well crafted release. The sound production is top notch, the performances showcase high level musicianship on all posts, and the songwriting is eclectic, adventurous, and intriguing. It´s the kind of the album you can listen to many times and find new details everytime. If they weren´t already one of the leaders of progressive/psychedelic black metal, this album would surely lift them to that status. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Cutting the Throat of God" is the seventh full-length studio album by New Zealand, Auckland based death metal act Ulcerate. The album was released through Debemur Morti Productions in June 2024. It´s the successor to "Stare into Death and Be Still" from April 2020. No lineup changes have happened and in fact the trio lineup of Jamie Saint Merat (drums, percussion), Michael Hoggard (guitars), and Paul Kelland (bass, vocals) have performed together in this incarnation since Ulcerate´s sophomore studio album "Everything Is Fire" from 2009. A few guitarists have performed with them live, but none have appeared on the band´s albums since 2009.

Already a few albums back, Ulcerate crawled out from under the shadow of dissonant oriented Gorguts influenced death metal, which was a style gracing a lot of their previous releases. While the dissonant and heavy death metal riffs are still a part of Ulcerate´s sound on "Cutting the Throat of God" (as it was on the last couple of albums too), they´ve slowly developed into something else...almost transcending genre definitions and boundaries, incorporating elements of technical death metal, dissonant death metal, progresive extreme metal, avant-garde metal moments, and post-metal build-ups and atmospheres. Very much their own at this point, and now a leader of the pack instead of being one of the followers (of the Gorguts school of dissonant death metal), Ulcerate have reached the thing that almost every artist strives for, which is having a unique sound and the respect which follows.

Stylistically this is dark, oppressive, and bleak music. It´s like watching the world crumple in front of your eyes while waiting for an inevitable apocalypse. The combination of ultra heavy riffs and rhythms, and the deeply melancholic and bleak dissonant riffs and sad slighly mellower post-metal parts is an effective one. The growling death metal vocals are relatively one-dimensional but the lack of too much aggressive emotion is probably a conscious decision, as the more emotionless growling fits well with the bleak concept of the instrumental part of the music.

"Cutting the Throat of God" features 7 tracks, and a total playing time of 57:46. All track are between 7 and 9 minutes long and this is by no means easy listening material. Not just because of the song lengths, but the tracks themselves are also quite complex in structure and goes through many different sections and dynamics. So brace yourself for a relatively long, challenging, and emotionally draining listening experience. Not draining in the sense that this is an awful release to sit through, but in the sense that it requires your full attention, and listening to almost an hour of music this oppressive and bleak is almost always a challenge.

The album is packed in a well sounding production job, and you can hear all details in the soundscape. It´s not too polished though and "Cutting the Throat of God" is still a very heavy, raw, and brutal sounding release. Upon conclusion "Cutting the Throat of God" is another impressive high quality release from Ulcerate. It´s not often an artist gets better and better with each release but Ulcerate is one such act. It´s almost impossible to understand that this is album number seven and they still sound as hungry, experimental, and brutal as they did when starting out, and to my ears have actually become much more interesting over the years. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Maleficium - Part 1" is the ninth full-length studio album by Danish death metal act Panzerchrist. The album was released through Emanzipation Productions in December 2024. It´s the successor to "Last of a Kind" from July 2023, although the two full-length studio albums are bridged by the January 2024 "All Witches Shall Burn" EP. There has been one lineup change since "Last of a Kind" as drummer Danni Jelsgaard has been replaced by Ove Lungskov.

Stylistically the material on "Maleficium - Part 1" continue the blackened death metal style of "Last of a Kind", but with more focus on the death metal part of Panzerchrist´s sound. The snarling blackened vocals of lead vocalist Sonja Rosenlund Ahl still points in a black metal direction and there are riffs here and there which are also undeniably in the black metal camp, but "Maleficium - Part 1" is still predominantly a fast-paced, aggressive, and brutal death metal release (just with an added blackened edge). Behemoth´s early 00s albums are a valid reference, and if you remove most of the melodic leads and harmonies from the music of artists like Unanimated and Necrophobic (which of course you can´t really do, as they are pillars of the music of those artists), you´re in the vicinity of what you hear on "Maleficium - Part 1".

Panzerchrist successfully balance the different genre elements and create a sound of their own. It´s not a particularly unique sound, but the combination of brutal and fast-paced death metal (which occasionally takes me back to the early 00s releases by Panzerchrist) and more cold, aggressive, and at times even epic black metal works pretty well for them. Ahl´s vocals are also very well performed and adds a lot to the listening experience. She means business and there´s no doubt about it. The occasional use of eerie keyboard sections is quite nice for the variation of the album. "Weak Is The Flesh" is a good example of keyboards adding a lot of atmosphere.

"Maleficium - Part 1" features a raw, brutal, and detailed sound production, which suits the material perfectly. This is arguably a very well produced release. The high level musicianship and effective and memorable songwriting are definitely not negatives either and "Maleficium - Part 1" is upon conclusion a high quality release from Panzerchrist. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "All Witches Shall Burn" is an EP release by Danish death metal act Panzerchrist. The EP was released through Emanzipation Productions in January 2024. It bridges the gap between Panzerchrist´s eighth- and ninth full-length studio albums "Last of a Kind" (July 2023) and "Maleficium - Part 1" (December 2024). The four tracks on the 19.51 minutes long EP were recorded during the sessions for "Last of a Kind" and are a continuation of the witch/inquisition themed lyrical concept of "Last of a Kind".

No surprise of course that the material is in a similar blackened death metal style as the one found on "Last of a Kind". Panzerchrist must have had one hell of a headache picking out the material to be featured on the album and which tracks should be left off, because there´s nothing wrong with the quality of the material featured on "All Witches Shall Burn". This is not just some leftover album session EP, featuring odd or slighly sub par tracks which weren´t of a good enough quality to be included on the album. These songs could just as well have been added and other album tracks left off. In that regard Panzerchrist are an incredibly consistent unit.

The EP is well produced (again of course featuring a sound production similar to the sound production found on "Last of a Kind"). Brutal, raw, epic, and detailed. Just the right sound production for this type of material. It´s overall a good quality release from Panzerchrist and a 3.5 star (70%) is well deserved.

UMUR "Die for Us" is the fifth full-length studio album by Australian death metal/deathgrind act Werewolves. The album was independently released in July 2024. It´s the successor to "My Enemies Look and Sound like Me" from August 2023. The lineup hasn´t changed since Werewolves formed in 2019, so it´s still David Haley on drums, Matt Wilcock on guitars and vocals, and Sam Bean performing vocals and bass. Related to artists like Akercocke, Abramelin, Faustian, The Berzerker, and Psycroptic these guys are quite prolific both on the Australian and the international death metal scene.

Stylistically "Die for Us" more or less continues down the same death metal/deathgrind road that Werewolves have travelled since day one. Artists like Terrorizer and Coldworker are pretty valid references. It´s fast, brutal, and aggressive deathgrind with heavier death metal moments thrown in here and there. The vocals vary between death metal growling and sligtly more aggressive snarling/growling. To my ears, the otherwise very well sounding production job, is a bit too clear for this type of music, and I wouldn´t have minded a bit more grit and filth. It would probably have made the music even more effectful.

But if you´re here to get your faced kicked in Werewolves are a safe bet. "Die for Us" is a relentlessly brutal death metal/deathgrind release featuring a caustic level of aggression. The band are well playing too and upon conclusion "Die for Us" is another good quality death metal/deathgrind release from Werewolves. They don´t invent the wheel or produce anything particularly unique, but there´s plenty of quality here to warrant a 3.5 star (70%) rating.

UMUR "Within the Visceria" is the debut full-length studio album by Danish death metal act Neckbreakker (previously known under the Nakkeknaekker monicker). The album was released through Nuclear Blast in December 2024. A very young band (drummer Anton Bregendorf is for example only 18 years old) from the city of Silkeborg, Neckbreakker was formed in 2020 as Nakkeknaekker and they released a couple of demos before changing their name to Neckbreakker in 2024. An English language version of their original Danish language monicker.

Stylistically they play a heavy and groove laden type of death metal. Rooted in the early 90s old school death metal scene, but there is a bit more to Neckbreakker than that, as they include more contemporary influences too. The heavy sometimes hardcore oriented groove of some parts and the aggressive shouting vocals of Christoffer Kofoed aren´t old school death metal features, but Neckbreakker manage to incorporate those elements pretty well with their more old school death metal features.

The band are well playing, but it´s immediately clear that it´s Bregendorf who is the standout musician in Neckbreakker. Busy, organic, and powerful drumming, which drives the music forward with loads of aggression, heavy swagger, and creativity. You don´t hear that often in this genre of music, and although Neckbreakker doesn´t sound much like Entombed it´s definitely Nicke Andersson´s organic playing style and inventive playing on the early Entombed releases I´m reminded of. It´s not that they have similar playing styles, but it´s the organic groove and constant attention to what is best for the music which they share. Contemporary and very successful fellow contrymen in Baest are bound to be mentioned here too, but Neckbreakker are generally a more diverse and hardcore/groove oriented death metal act than the more traditional old school death metal of Baest.

"Within the Visceria" features a powerful, raw, and overall effective sound production, which suits the material well and upon conclusion it´s a good quality debut release from Neckbreakker, who definitely have the potential to go places with their music. The songwriting is at times a bit too safe and Neckbreakker don´t offer the listener anything they haven´t heard before. It´s not a major issue as especially the musical performances are as strong as they are and the album is as well produced as it is, but a few more catchy and memorable moments wouldn´t have hurt and could have made my overall impression of the album a little more positive. It´s ultimately still a good quality release though and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "A World Drowning in Detest" is the third full-length studio album by Danish death metal act Detest. The album was released through Emanzipation Productions in December 2024. It´s the successor to "We Will Get What We Deserve" from 2021, which was Detest´s comeback album after not having released a full-length studio album since "Dorval" from 1994, although the two full-length studio albums are bridged by the "A Moment of Love" EP from 2019.

So with a more steady release rate it would seem that Detest are back with a vengeance. Listening to "A World Drowning in Detest", the vengeance part isn´t entirely true though, but more about that later. Stylistically Detest play a predominantly old school oriented death metal style which is based on heavy riffs and grooves and which is mostly played at mid-pace, although the band speed things up on occasion. My impression is however overall that "A World Drowning in Detest" is a faster-paced album than "We Will Get What We Deserve". The vocals are one-dimensional growling and performed without much feeling or aggression. They are just there and lead vocalist/bassist Simon Springborg gets the job done but not much more than that.

The musicianship is overall pretty strong, but I have to mention that some of the lead guitar parts sound a little shaky/out of tune. The worst example of that is on instrumental album opener "It's Over", but the leads are generally not the greatest throughout the album. "A World Drowning in Detest" features a professional and well sounding production job, so it´s the relatively mediocre songwriting and the sometimes shaky musicianship which aren´t fully up to par with some of the contemporary Danish death metal artists which Detest are in competition with like Baest and Neckbreakker. As legends of the Danish death metal scene Detest are supposed to show the new young artists that they are leaders, but on "A World Drowning in Detest" they sound like faceless followers to me. Despite the criticism there are however still quality here and a 3 star (60%) rating isn´t all wrong.

UMUR "Pathei Mathos" is an EP release by Norwegian experimental music act Manes. The EP was released through Aftermath Music in June 2024. Although it´s been quite a few years since the last major release from Manes, they have kept themselves busy releasing a couple of conpilations as well as a couple of singles since the release of "Slow Motion Death Sequence" (Manes fifth full-length studio album, released in August 2018). They have also released the black metal "Innerst i mørket" full-length studio album under the Manii monicker in September 2023.

The EP features four tracks and a total playing time of 23:40, and as something new most of the vocals are female clean vocals performed by M. Hellem (Martyra). Manes still use ambient electronic elements to create atmosphere, but the music features rock/metal instrumentation too and actually reminds me of late 90s/early 90s The Gathering. The Swedes in Paatos is another valid reference (and artists like Atrox and Madder Mortem), and on this particular release the Ulver clone accusations, which Manes are often subjected to, aren´t true at all.

"Pathei Mathos" features a nice raw sound production and the addition of a female lead vocalist has not meant that the music has become more polished or mainstream oriented. It´s still dark and somewhat heavy rock/metal music with ambient electronic elements and a melancholic atmosphere (the music also features gothic rock/metal leanings). Fans of especially The Gathering should find a lot to enjoy on this release. To my ears Manes aren´t as unique sounding on "Pathei Mathos" as they previously have been, but there´s nothing wrong with the quality of the music. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Cometh the Storm" is the ninth full-length studio album by US, heavy/sludge/stoner metal act High on Fire. The album was released through MNRK Heavy in April 2024. It´s the successor to "Electric Messiah" from October 2018 and there´s been one lineup change since the last album as drummer Des Kensel has been replaced by Coady Willis. The latter is known for his work with artists like Big Business and The Melvins. Kurt Ballou is credited as producer. A role he has also played on the last couple of albums by High on Fire. Actually every High on Fire album from "De Vermis Mysteriis" (2012) until this one have been produced by Ballou.

Personally I haven´t always felt that Ballou´s production style fit High on Fire´s music, but on "Cometh the Storm" he has aimed for a more organic, heavy, and meaty tone, which suits the band´s ultra heavy stoner/sludge metal riffs, heavy organic grooves, and occasional bursts of heavy/thrash metal aggression really well. To my ears the sound production on "Cometh the Storm" is the most well sounding production on a High on Fire album since "Snakes for the Divine" from 2010. This album has the right bite and venom dripping from it.

High on Fire are as well playing as ever and the addition of Willis to the ranks is not a bad decision. If you´re familar with his work with both Big Business and The Melvins you won´t be surprised by his high quality output and creative drumming ideas. He adds a lot to the sound of this album. Frontman/guitarist Matt Pike sounds as raw as ever (and has over the years also built upon his arsenal of vocal styles) and bassist Jeff Matz, who completes the trio lineup, is a solid heavy anchor. High on Fire´s relatively unique combination of stoner metal, sludge metal, heavy metal, and thrash metal riffs and rhythms hasn´t changed drastically over the years, and the material on "Cometh the Storm" follows in a similar style to the many preceding releases.

So it´s the songwriting and the production values which set one High on Fire album apart from the other albums by the band, and to my ears "Cometh the Storm" is in the better end of the High on Fire album releases, both when it comes to the memorability of the compositions and certainly when it comes to the sound production (as mentioned above). A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

adg211288 We need to be clear about thing before we get into this review for Opeth's fourteenth studio album The Last Will and Testament: Opeth isn't 'back' just because this album marks their return to the extreme progressive metal sounds of yesteryear. They never went away, and have produced a string of progressive rock based albums (the most recent two reintroducing metal ideas in a different manner) that proved that Mikael Åkerfeldt doesn't need to growl in order for Opeth to be Opeth. As a band, they are so much more than that. I for one was quite content with the direction they were going in. No band should be forced to make music they're not feeling just because the fans expect it.

With that said, it's also very difficult to not, after the sixteen years since Mikael last growled on an Opeth studio album (which was 2008's Watershed), not to be excited by the idea of a new Opeth album in their 'classic' style. The burning question is, of course, if The Last Will and Testament does that?

Well yes, it does, and more besides. The album's sound is like a coming together of the old and new, with plenty of different elements being thrown into what is once again a more extreme metal based sound. There's symphonic progressive rock elements which, for my money, appear the most extensively since Opeth's 2014 Pale Communion album. It also verges into more experimental/avant-garde territory and makes use of a bit of flute courtesy of Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, so also provides some spoken word vocals. Spoken word is music is rather hit and miss for me, but this technique works on The Last Will and Testament by virtue of not being overdone. The album also contains more minor genre references including classical music and jazz rock. It sounds like old Opeth, but new Opeth is in here too. This isn't a throwback album, it's the culmination of their career to date.

As their first concept album since 1999's Still Life, The Last Will and Testament is structured to reflect a will reading. Except for the final song, A Story Never Told, which serves as an epilogue of sorts, the tracks are not named except to be referred to as paragraphs one through seven (denoted by the § symbol). This has the small drawback of not having a clear reference point which to refer to the songs by, but the songs are able to quickly assert themselves apart from each other all the same. Most make use of Åkerfeldt's growling vocals, except for §3 and A Story Never Told. The former is still a metal song but the later is the album's only full progressive rock song. This means that the growls are being used more than on Opeth's last extreme album Watershed which only had them in three out of seven songs. Compared to older Opeth though they've avoided any single songs that cross the ten minute barrier, going for more median lengths between five and seven-odd minutes.

All in all I think The Last Will and Testament is an excellent Opeth album. As a still new record I can't really say how I will feel about it in relation to their other albums a year or two from now, but as an extreme progressive metal album it sits in good company with their earlier work especially the period of Still Life through to Watershed, while also not ignoring that the prog rock era Opeth happened. I don't think this was an album made under fan pressure to go back to their more popular sound, more like Mikael Åkerfeldt began to feel this sort of music again, especially to tie into a concept record. It really is anyone's guess whether this will mark a permanent return to the style, but I don't think it matters either way. Opeth is a band with nothing to prove; they will do what they want and don't have to stick to a ridged style. That is, ultimately, what makes them an exciting band. I wouldn't rule out future observations sounding like either or of their distinct eras, or perhaps something new entirely.

UMUR "The Underworld Awaits Us All" is the tenth full-length studio album by US death metal act Nile. The album was released through Napalm Records in August 2024. It´s the successor to "Vile Nilotic Rites" from 2019 and there have been a couple of lineup changes since the predecessor as bassist/vocalist Brad Parris has left and has been replaced by Dan Vadim Von. Guitarist/vocalist Zach Jeter has also joined, making Nile a quintet on "The Underworld Awaits Us All". A quintet with no less than three guitarists/vocalists, which is quite uncommon in death metal.

Stylistically the material on "The Underworld Awaits Us All" is a natural continuation of the brutal and technical death metal sound of "Vile Nilotic Rites". The change on the lead vocalist spot makes a positive impact though, and to my ears Nile sound a little bit more like themselves on "The Underworld Awaits Us All" than they did on "Vile Nilotic Rites". At least when it comes to the vocal style and performances. Losing Dallas Toler-Wade was a huge blow and a vocalist like that was never going to be easy to replace, but on "The Underworld Awaits Us All", Nile take back some of the lost territory when it comes to the vocal performances.

Other than the vocal part of the album, Nile still produce some of the fastests, most technical, and unique sounding death metal. Firmly rooted in the old school way of playing death metal, but with a never changing passion for producing high quality output. The lyrical themes are the same as always and revolve around ancient Egyptian mythology and history. As always Nile are creative songwriters/lyricists and including a songtitle like "Chapter For Not Being Hung Upside Down On A Stake In The Underworld And Made To Eat Feces By The Four Apes" on a death metal release speaks louder than words in terms of what Nile is about.

So the songwriting and the performances are as clever, skilled, and powerful as ever. The musical performances are as always through the roof. The sound production is however on the dry side and I think the album lacks the massive meaty productions of some of the past releases. It´s not a huge issue, but it´s not a plus in my book either. It´s especially the drums which feature an artificial tone and to my ears aren´t placed high enough in the mix. Minor production issues aside (which is quite subjective anyways), "The Underworld Awaits Us All" is another high quality death metal release from Nile. Sanders and co. are still among the elite death metal artists in the world, and "The Underworld Awaits Us All" further cements that fact. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is dserved.

UMUR "Opaque Fixation" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Illinois based death metal act Primal Code. The album was released through Relapse Records in November 2024. Primal Code formed in 2021 as the trio of Will Lindsay (bass), Jamer Farn (drums), and Gene Marino (vocals, guitars) and released a demo in 2022, and an EP and a split with The Gavel during 2023.

Stylistically "Opaque Fixation" is pretty much more of the same if you´re familiar with the preceding releases by the band. Ultra heavy and brutal old school death metal, which is predominantly slow- to mid-paced (although they have picked up the pace a slight bit on this one). It´s artists like Asphyx, Grave, and Bolt Thrower who are the main influences, and it´s fans of artits in that end of the death metal scale, who´ll find "Opaque Fixation" interesting.

The music is well performed and it´s audible that Primal Code aren´t new to playing music. "Opaque Fixation" features a brutal and detailed sounding production too and upon conclusion it´s a good quality death metal release from Primal Code, and they are certainly a band too look out for in the future. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "PowerNerd" is the twenty-second full-length studio album by Canadian progressive rock/metal artist Devin Townsend (if you include all releases by Devin Townsend, Devin Townsend Project, and The Devin Townsend Band). The album was released through InsideOut Music in October 2024. It´s the successor to "Lightwork" from November 2022 and it´s almost impossible to believe that there´s been almost two years between releases for Townsend, who usually is a very prolific with his output rate. There are several reasons for the break in output though, including touring in support of "Lightwork" and working on what is described by Townsend as one of the most elaborate and challenging musical projects of his career...the forthcoming album "The Moth". But in typical Townsend style he of course found time to write and record a stop-gap release which is "PowerNerd".

After having experimented with using an outside co-producer (Gggarth) on "Lightwork", Townsend is back to self-producing on "PowerNerd". He has said in interviews that it was a great experience for him working with an outside producer, but that he would probably never do it again, because as great the experience was, it was also uncomfortable for him to relinquish control of his product.

"PowerNerd" was recorded by Townsend (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, programming) with additional performances by session musicians Darby Todd (drums), Diego Tejeida and Mike Keneally (both keybaords), Jean Savoie (bass), Aman Khosla (vocals), Tanya Ghosh (vocals), and Jamie Jasta (vocals). So most of the recording was solely done by Townsend.

Stylistically the material on "PowerNerd" is predominantly melodic heavy rock/metal with huge memorable choruses (I could remember almost every track already the second time I listened to them, so this is arguably very catchy material). Although the music is very well produced, featuring Townsend´s signature multi-layers of instruments and vocals, it´s probably his most accessible and least progressive/experimental release yet. The tracks are all vers/chorus structured, 3-5 minutes long (except the even shorter "Dreams of Light"), and relatively simple, but still very effective and well composed. Think how a combination of the pop metal heaviness of "Addicted" (2009) would sound if you applied it to the atmospheric pop/rock of "Lightwork" (2022) and you´re halfway there. Fans of the most experimental parts of Townsend´s discography might find this a little light weight and maybe even a little shallow, but to those of us who found the two above mentioned albums greatly enjoyable and generally appreciate the more melodic and easier to access material from Townsend, "PowerNerd" is another great addition to our collection.

What´s interesting on "PowerNerd" compared to some of the other more accessible releases in Townsend´s discography is that there are almost no excursions into experimental territories. He usually can´t help himself add at least one or two tracks with an experimental/progressive edge even on the more melodic pop rock/metal oriented releases, but "PowerNerd" is almost completely devoid of that and it´s generally a very consistent release in terms of musical style...at least until the closing track "Ruby Quaker" where Townsend let´s loose with a little eclectic musical madness (mixing a cowpunk main song with death metal and epic symphonic parts). Probably just to remind his audience that he hasn´t lost his edge and have become completely domesticated.

Even within this relatively simple vers/chorus structured format Townsend is able to show his musical ingenuity and geniality. Although it´s not as apparent on "PowerNerd" as on other preceding more experimental releases, it´s still pretty clear that he is a one-of-a-kind genius, who is able to make even relatively staight forward music sound intriguing, energetic, and powerful. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

siLLy puPPy Chugging buzzsaw guitars, lo-fi production fuzziness, demonic vocal rasping piercing the wall of shadowy din with adrenalized rampages altering with creeping advances. These are the now well established attributes of Tobias Möckl’s one man band PAYSAGE D’HIVER which since 1998 has continued to deliver the sounds of a turbulent winter storm with no end. This Swiss soldier in the black metal army (as well as key member of Möckl’s other well known band, Darkspace), returns with another whopping blast of Arctic chill with his newest release DIE BERGE, the German words meaning “The Mountains” thus showcased on a dismal album cover of grainy black and white vagueness. Unleashing another ferocious attack of ambient atmospheric black metal some 26 years after the debut “Steineiche,” PAYSAGE D’HIVER is up to album #15 this time around and follows in the footsteps of the more modern releases with a sprawling running time of almost 103 minutes.

Despite the lengthy sojourn into the frigid icy sonic swells that rumble on for well over an hour, DIE BERGE features a mere 7 tracks with every single track but one hitting the 11-minute mark with the grandest of sprawlers coming first in the form of “Urgrund” which slinks past the 18-minute playing time. Now that’s a lot of jagged wintery downtuned distortion to soak in but somehow once again Mr Möckl showcases his knack to craft hostile frosty soundscapes that march on through lengthy processions like an intrepid journey into the unknown during the hostile shivery moments of winter delivered in a demeanor as chilling and inclement as the inhospitable apices of the Swiss Alps. Appearing as the sole contributor under the moniker Wintherr, his compositions on DIE BERGE emulate a nasty blizzard lambasting the peaks in musical form with oscillating swells of lo-fi distortion and the blurred distinction between treble and bass accompanied by the pacifying melodic touches of the atmospheric keyboard runs that so gracefully slink in and out of the treacherous soundscapes. Blastbeats and tranquilized drum percussion trades off with moments of a unifying bleakness as the bantering guitar and bass swells deliver maximum bombast.

While the world of black metal continues to splinter off in a great number of variations, PAYSAGE D’HIVER offers that respite into the world of darkened lo-fi grittiness that launched the Norwegian second wave black metal scene some 30 years ago and retains that general vibe which has become somewhat diluted and altered with the advent of more progressive and experimental black metal of the 21st century. DIE BERGE like the general PAYSAGE D’HIVER canon offers that much needed transcendental escape into a nightmarish and ominous journey into the turbulent black metal disarray that tames chaotic soundscapes into melodic almost post-metal like cyclical loops that rumble on for long segments of time yet somehow never seem to grow stale as the chugging riffs and hypnotic repetitive motifs slowly churn on for minutes on end. It’s very much the black metal equivalent to laying on the ground and simply watching the clouds drift by with subtle variations oozing out at glacial speeds. The album’s seven tracks may be lengthy but each forges its own identity despite deriving inspiration from the same playbook. Despite the simplicity of the melodic structure, the album is utterly mesmerizing and casts the perfect spell to allow the protracted paragons to perform their wintery magic.

Don’t expect any Alpine folk interpretations or experimental touches. PAYSAGE D’HIVER isn’t one to throw curveballs but rather delivers comfort metal of the frigid variety for those accustomed to the long drawn out processions into gelid wintery soundscapes that Wintherr has possibly become the most adept at crafting. DIE BERGE may not differ substantially from PAYSAGE D’HIVER’s long and well-established canon significantly but nevertheless this guy really knows how to keep the consistency in his work without falling from grace. Black metal is a fickle beast and can easily be slayed by too much regalia adornment. In the case of PAYSAGE D’HIVER it seems that keeping it simple without too much excess fluff has been the magic bullet that has propelled Wintherr and his project well into the 21st century with no signs of running out of gas. While i wouldn’t call DIE BERGE any sort of advancement in the established stylistic approach, i can say that Wintherr has delivered another wickedly delightful slice of chillingly frosty atmospheric black metal that keeps his legacy churning along.

siLLy puPPy After a lengthy hiatus that found a whopping elapse of 13 years since its last full length album, the mighty MITOCHRONDRION has resurrected itself from a self-imposed slumber and slithered out of its hibernation chambers to unleash the third installment of its brutal bantering discography. While the band dropped an EP in 2013 and a split in 2016 showing continued signs of life, unexpectedly and turbulently this Victoria, BC based band has unleashed a massive sprawling double disc release in 2024 in the form of VITRISEPTOME. Delivering another esoteric and mysterious album title, this word like its predecessors “Archaeaeon” and “Parasignosis” has emerged like a linguistic Frankenstein of the band’s own making. Breaking down into the logical components, VITRI- possibly refers to the legit “vitic” which means relating to, resembling or having the nature of glass. SEPT most likely signifies the number seven whereas the TOME part could possibly refer to a book or set of books of several volumes featured in a scholarly fashion. So logically perhaps a “Seven Volume Tome In Glass?”

Whatever the fuck it means, VITRISEPTOME is a behemoth of a musical monstrosity that features 17 ear shattering tracks that sprawl on to a whopping one hour and 25 minutes! That’s a tall order for a band that consistently delivers some of the most frightening and energetic displays of technical disso-death metal in the modern realms of the ever-expanding universe of extreme metal’s most popular nook. So what’s new with MITOCHONDRION you ask? Well, dare i say melody? This band’s past is one of murky nebulous swells of sound that conjure up demonic forces that deliver astral terror. In many ways the band returns with a sound that’s business as usual with the expected rampaging guitar riffs distorted to kingdom come accompanied by blitzkrieg percussion gymnastics in a crushing cacophony that blurs the distinction between black metal, death metal and the avant-garde. Also once again MITOCHONDRION delivers hefty doses of preternatural aural assaults bedecked with ample touches of Lovecraftian surrealism.

VITRISEPTOME may resemble its heritage in the aforementioned carry over elements that make MITOCHONDRION sound like no other however beneath the dissonant display of bantering freneticism, this album is quite different in many ways with the most prominent feature being that of a more melodic approach that is implemented by the higher register guitar licks that accompany the brutal bombast of the rampaging riffing. Also notable is the more cavernous texture of the production and mixing which offers a more Portal-like effect that offers moments of pure blackened noise as heard on the combo back of “[ ]” and the title track which sound like an avalanche of amplifiers generating a feedback explosion. While the previous albums offered a more surreal blurry bleeding over of the instrumentation, VITRISEPTOME on the other hand delivers a more distinguished separation of guitars, bass and other elements such as the various tonal textures offered by such unorthodoxies as the timpani, flute, bone horn and singing bowl. As far as the guitars are concerned there is more of an old school Morbid Angel feel on many track with that classic guitar squealing effect emerging from the din. But don’t let these small details fool you. This is MITOCHONDRION raging on in fine form!

Despite the hour and a half playing time i found myself able to take in the entire shebang in one sitting and that’s saying something these days when i find many albums are tediously too long for their own good. Something about MITOCHONDRION’s multi-faceted delivery system that keeps things sounding uniform in style yet diverse in how the details define the sum of the parts. It’s a demanding listening experience but unlike previous efforts that only offered the gloomiest and doomiest musical excursions to be had, VITRISEPTOME feels like it adds a ray of light to the chaotic disso-death battlefield of instrumentation with digestible chunks of melodic victory prognosticating a triumphant outcome despite a bleak and seemingly hopeless outcome. Once again MITOCHONDRION successfully conveys a strange metaphysical scenario that while nebulous in nature offers a wild emotional ride through the incessant swarm of sonic entropy. Personally i still prefer the band’s first two albums as this one is less consistent in its overall effect despite in many ways pretty much following in the footsteps of the previous albums. I’m a bit underwhelmed that the band didn’t deliver 13 years of innovation however despite those nitpicky quibbles i have to say that VITRISEPTOME is still a freakin’ awesome display of 21st century techy blackened disso-death. For me just a smidge inferior to the band’s past but this very well could grow on me over time indeed.

UMUR "Absolute Elsewhere" is the third full-length studio album by US, Colorado based death metal act Blood Incantation. The album was released through Century Media Records in October 2024. It´s the successor to "Hidden History of the Human Race" from 2021, although the two full-length studio albums are bridged by the 2022 "Timewave Zero" EP. Three of the four members of the band have also been busy recording the second Spectral Voice album titled "Sparagmos", which was released in February 2024. Blood Incantation and Spectral Voice share all members except for the drummers of the two bands, who exclusively play in one of the groups.

While Blood Incantation have been brewing music since 2011 and have been relatively active since their formation, it wasn´t until the release of "Hidden History of the Human Race" that they had their underground breakthrough. Almost universally lauded for it´s intricate, progressive, and abstract death metal sound, "Hidden History of the Human Race" certainly made sure that Blood Incantation were placed firmly on the death metal map. It´s an interesting death metal release, because for all its sophistication, technical playing, and complex song structures, it´s still inherently an old school death metal release, featuring a gloomy and filthy brutality.

While a large part of the playing time of "Hidden History of the Human Race" was made up of the 18:05 minutes long "Awakening from the Dream of Existence to the Multidimensional Nature of Our Reality (Mirror of the Soul)", writing such a massive progressive death metal track obviously haven´t satisfied Blood Incantation´s cravings for abstract and complex death metal constructions, as "Absolute Elsewhere" contains only two 20 minutes plus tracks titled "The Stargate" (20:20 minutes long) and "The Message" (23:23 minutes long). Both tracks are subdivided into three shorter tracks, but you still get the experience of listening to two long tracks, as the sub-tracks seque into each other.

Stylistically Blood Incantation take their music to a new level. While still featuring loads of old school technical death metal parts, the album features just as many 70s influenced tripped-out space rock parts (Artists like Tangerine Dream, Eloy, and Pink Floyd haven´t lived in vain), which have nothing to do with death metal. So how does two such different music styles co-exist? It should be impossible, but it actually works incredibly well. Blood Incantation ensure that there is a good balance between death metal brutality, technical playing, progressive song structures, and the 70s progressive/space rock influences. "Absolute Elsewhere" is epic, melodic, and atmospheric, but also brutal, dissonant, and raw. Gloomy atmospheres are followed by epic melodic moments, and laid-back psychedelic journeys into space.

The growling vocals are cavernous, but higher in the mix than on the previous releases from Blood Incantation, which is a plus in my book. "The Message [Tablet II]" features a strongly Pink Floyed influenced section with clean singing in the Gilmour vein, and although they are relatively sparse and subtle, they provide a great contrast to the brutal growling vocals, which dominate "Absolute Elsewhere". The instrumental part of the album is well performed too, and the band are arguably a talented unit. It´s the multifaceted songwriting and unconventional progressive ideas which make "Absolute Elsewhere" such an interesting release though. These days you kind of expect that bands can handle their instruments, but it´s never a given that they can write intriguing music. Blood Incantation master both disciplines with ease. Featuring an organic, powerful, and detailed sound production "Absolute Elsewhere" is a high level release on all parameters and a 4.5 star (900%) rating is fully deserved.

UMUR "Manual Manic Procedures" is the second full-length studio album by US, Ohio based death metal act 200 Stab Wounds. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in June 2024. It´s the successor to Slave To The Scalpel from 2021, although 200 Stab Wounds did release the 2023 "Masters of Morbidity" stop-gap single (featuring two non-album tracks). There has been one lineup change since the debut album as guitarist Lance Buckley has been replaced by Raymond Macdonald.

Stylistically 200 Stab Wounds haven´t changed much since the last album, still playing an old school but still not too retro sounding type of death metal. Brutal and varied grooves, both death metal and thrash metal influenced riffs, and some brutal growling vocals in front. "Manual Manic Procedures" features a fat, heavy, and brutal sounding production job which along with the (for the style) relatively varied songwriting are the greatest assets of the album. The band are well playing too.

Upon conclusion "Manual Manic Procedures" is another good quality death metal release from 200 Stab Wounds and the greater emphasis on brutal grooves and breaks is an interesting feature of the album, which provide the music with something a little more unique than what many other contemporary death metal artists put out. When that is said, "Manual Manic Procedures" still use trid and true musical elements...they are just combined in an effectful and rewarding way. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

siLLy puPPy Dissonant and psychedelic tech death metal is killin’ it in the 2020s with long established bands coming of age and blowing away the competition en masse. Long timers like Pyrrhon, Ulcerate and Mitochondrion are continuing to up their game with each subsequent release and newer bands like Blood Incantation are perfecting all these elements with amazing precision. You can add the Tampa based GIGAN to that list which started as far back as 2006 and has continued to pummel the world of extreme metal ever since. Having taken a whopping seven year hiatus this power trio has returned with founder Eric Hersemann (bass, guitar, synthesizer, theremin) along with decade long drummer Nate Cotton and growler-in-chief Jerry Kavouriaris who returns for his second album with the band. GIGAN is back with yet another multisyllabic album, ANOMALOUS ABSTRACTIGATE INFINITESSIMUS which melds the now established worlds of sci-fiction debauchery with the blitzkrieg wizardry of world class disso-death metal.

Named after the alien cyborg kaiju who first appeared in the 1972 film “Godzilla vs. Gigan,” this ultimate weapon of the M Space Hunter Nebula Aliens which was deployed to Earth to aid the alien invader’s conquest of the planet proves to be the perfect namesake for this technically infused band that worships the alter of brutality and dissonance. While not the first extreme metal band to delve into the world of Lovecraftian horror fiction and strange diabolical fantasy, GIGAN has practically perfected its idiosyncratic style of surreal convoluted compositional constructs fortified by unrelenting tempos, bantering abrasiveness and strange twisted concepts. The album opens with the 8-minute “Trans-Dimensional Crossing of the Alta-Tenuis” which explodes like a bomb on Hiroshima with the turbulent drumming cacophony of Nathan Cotton who delvers some of the most demanding and demonic tech death performances in the biz. Oscillating waves of dissonant guitar riffing assail the senses as the band delivers a chaotic brutality that was woefully missing on the previous album (at least at this magnitude).

“Ultra-Violet Shimmer and Permeating Infra-sound” doesn’t let up with an even more brutal decibel rampage as the guitar riffing and bass bantering become every more chaotic with ever more complex percussive clamor and freaky slide guitar effects while Kavouriasis’ vocal style becomes insane asylum material. While taking the brutality to the next level the wild synthesized atmospheric note slides adds a touch of surreality to the whole shebang all graced by the off-kilter production techniques that take things even further into the abstract world of surreality and mind-fuckery. The most bizarre track of all comes with “Emerging Sects of Dagonic Acolytes,” a 10-minute excursion into the a bizarre tightrope act between extreme death metal acrobatics coupled with psychedelic rock techniques and free improvisation abstruseness. While starting off as a somewhat “normal” GIGAN track, things start to get weirder and weirder to the point where you feel like you’ve totally lost your sanity and all connection to reality as the band goes down one of its most surreal rabbit hole escapades to date.

And the Lovecraftian surrealism doesn’t stop there. Each track delivers another powerful punch of erratic techy death metal with freaky guitar solos and convoluted riffing patterns. “Erratic Pulsitivity and Horror” is like the closest thing to a musical seizure i’ve ever experienced while “The Strange Harvest of the Baganoids” offers some of the strangest twanging jangle guitar chops ever experienced and features a strange time signature dynamic that makes you feel like you’re traveling through a turbulent asteroid belt on the Millennium Falcon. As the album closes with “Ominous Silhouettes Cast Across Gulfs of Time,” the band engages in another lengthy near 8-minute battle of chaos and order only this time with a more doomy introduction with plodding guitar stomps and ominous distortion but then the track breaks into a bifurcated effect of rampaging death metal along with the plodding effects, yet another wild surreal display of creative craftiness or should i say Lovecraftiness.

Wow! Mind blown!!!! While i still loved GIGAN’s approach on the previous “Undulating Waves of Rainbiotic Iridescence,” it seemed like the band was toning down the intensity a bit from its previous “Multi-Dimensional Fractal Sorcery And Super Science” so in effect ANOMALOUS ABSTRACTIGATE INFINITESSIMUS was a make or break type of album for me although i could never totally write this top band in my collection. As it turns out this fifth installment of the GIGAN universe is its best effort yet and combines the perfect combo punch of brutal bombastic techy death metal drenched in dissonant disdain coupled with the heady mind-altering effects of psychedelia and surrealism. The band has outdone itself with this one with each track standing out as a testament to its creative prowess taken to the next level and beyond. Yeah, baby! This is what 21st century death metal is all about! Two listens in and i’m ready to push play again, something the last album didn’t quite coax me into doing. I’ve been a fan of this band for over a decade now and i’m utterly thrilled beyond measure that not only has the band returned to its avant-garde unorthodoxies from its beginnings but has delivered them all in such a brutal excellence that totally caught me off guard. I think this band has been raised a few notches on my favorite extreme metal band list.

siLLy puPPy Following the trajectory of the Finnish psychedelic black metal band ORANSSI PAZUZU is like experiencing an Earth based band fall into a wormhole and accidentally tagging along for the ride. While starting out as a somewhat recognizable black metal band all the way back in 2009 with its debut “Muukalainen Puhuu,” ORANSSI PAZUZU incrementally left the gravitational pull of our host planet and has taken a bonafide space journey into a world of its own making. This eclectic quintet has returned after a four year hiatus with its latest effort MUUNTAUTUJA which translates into something like “Transformative” or “Shapeshifter” which is exactly what this idiosyncratic and eccentric band has clearly become.

MUUNTAUTUJA marks another step beyond the once established parameters of black metal and takes the band into a bizarre web of neo-psychedelia that finds electronic influences taking a much larger role in crafting strange futuristic soundscapes that offer wild otherworldly spaced out effects. While the black metal hasn’t been totally usurped by gurgling synthesizers, trip hop based beats and ominous industrial sounds, any traces of Scandinavian kvlt majesty have been set way down in the mix as to leave only distorted guitar distortion rumblings and the band’s classic raspy vocal style as a beacon of light that points to its origins. Something like a modern day Ulver that never jettisoned the black metal furor, ORANSSI PAZUZU has reached the middle of its wormhole journey with one of its strangest albums yet.

One of the most inventive black metal bands to have emerged in the 21st century, ORANSSI PAZUZU set off like a voyage on the Star Trek Voyager and has crafted a truly unique sound that never remains stationary from album to album. While the earlier albums showcased a post-metal-like procession with cyclical riffs that slowly ratcheted up to crescendoing uproar, the band has always teased in psychedelic embellishments that have indubitably initiated a completely new genre called space metal. By the time the band got to “Mestarin Kynsi” it was apparent that these Finns were heading to the stars without looking back and boldly going where no black metal band has gone before. And the best thing of all is that these talented musicians actually created interesting song structures that made you want to tune in rather than send them off on their mission.

This band has always reveled in juxtaposing the most polarized opposite musical genres together and making strange bedfellows sound like a predestined fit. MUUNTAUTUJA only ups the ante as it takes you on a transcendental musical excursion into an alternate universe where Blut Aus Nord and Portishead commingle in darkened corners with Death Grips and Philip Glass with a touch of Massive Attack, Ministry and Mad Capsule Markets. From the very first oscillating tones of “Bioalkemisti” it’s clear that MUUNTAUTUJA is a completely different beast than what came before and another incremental leap down the avant-garde rabbit hole with surreal musical motifs that shapeshift from one track to the next that sample from a cauldron where the disparate worlds of progressive rock, black metal, trip hop, 20th century classical and industrial rock have been simmering in an undisclosed locus in the midst of the vast Finnish forests.

Along with Dodheimsgard, Ulver, Ved Buens Ende and Ram-Zet, ORANSSI PAZUZU has become one of Scandinavia’s most forward thinking bands and with the closing “Vierivä usva” totally drifting off into space and leaving the metal mojo behind one can’t help but wonder if this band is going to pull an Ulver on us and completely jump into the world of avant-garde electronica. Wherever this inventive band leads many of us avant-metal nerds will surely follow as it is virtually guaranteed that this band will take you somewhere you never knew existed. While i personally found the previous album to be more of my liking, this one is definitely a wild ride into the world of cosmos metal that will leave you gasping for air as you drift beyond the limits our Earthly realms.

Kev Rowland Dååth began their journey in 1999, releasing four studio albums and touring with Slayer, Nile, Cattle Decapitation, Dark Funeral, Cynic, Dragonforce, Goatwhore, Chimaira, Dying Fetus and others before going on hiatus in 2011. They have finally returned with their first album in 14 years, although founder/guitarist Eyal Levi has overseen a complete overhaul of the lineup, with only singer Sean Zatorsky still there from the old days. Together they have been joined by Kerim “Krimh” Lechner on drums, Jesse Zuretti on orchestration and guitar, Rafael Trujillo on lead guitar, and David Marvuglio on bass. In addition, there are numerous guests providing guitar solos including Jeff Loomis (Nevermore, Arch Enemy), Mark Holcomb (Periphery), Dean Lamb (Archspire), Per Nilsson, (Scar Symmetry, Meshuggah), Spiro Dussias (Platonist), and Dan Sugarman (Ice Nine Kills), while video game composer Mick Gordon (Doom Eternal) contributed sound design and synth to “Purified By Vengeance.” By the way, for those who are interested the name "Daath" is a Hebrew word meaning "knowledge", which is certainly much more interesting than their original name, Dirtnap.

I remember reading about Dååth when they were around first time, but I don’t think I had previously come across their music and picked this up due to a combination of name recognition and them being on Metal Blade, but I am so very glad I did as this is a belter. Having not heard their earlier material I cannot comment as to how much they may have changed musically, but what I can say is that here is melodic death metal which also relies heavily on huge arrangements and orchestration. In some ways they come across as a mix of Fleshgod Apocalypse and classic Dimmu Borgir, with complex layering of guitars, always driven from the back by a great rhythm section, orchestration over the top and some great growls out front. Zatorsky has been keeping himself busy with Chimaira and Sinsaenum, but this is where he is truly at home, with his relationship with Levi continuing on as if they have never been apart. They may have been away for well over a decade but Dååth are back with a vengeance.

adg211288 The US death metal act Blood Incantation has already established themselves as a major act of their genre. It was apparent, I think, from at least as early as their debut album Starspawn (2016) but really asserted on Hidden History of the Human Race (2019). They played progressive death metal but without over reliance on the technical death metal sub-genre. Absolute Elsewhere (2024) is their third studio album and although they've left it so long between their primary records Blood Incantation has been far from idle and in the intervening years has taken the time to explore other avenues of music, most notably space ambient on the EP (which is actually album length and was until Absolute Elsewhere actually their longest release) Timewave Zero (2022). They then released the maxi-single Luminescent Bridge (2023) which saw them combining elements from both their progressive death metal and ambient work. Luminescent Bridge's two songs are included on the deluxe edition of Absolute Elsewhere as a bonus disc as is a second completely ambient release not currently available elsewhere calls All Gates Open.

Absolute Elsewhere is a very different beast to either of the previous Blood Incantation studio albums and if you haven't been paying attention to what they've been doing since Hidden History of the Human Race, it may come as a surprise but if you have been you will know that Blood Incantation isn't content to be a one trick pony. This album features just two songs (broken up into three tracks each and branded as Tablets by the band) which see them combining all different kinds of music into their sound. Expect lots of shifts between their cavernous death metal sound and lighter music, including synth driven stuff which also included a guest spot for Thorsten Quaeschning, the current band leader of Berlin School giants Tangerine Dream. As an album Absolute Elsewhere owes as much to Pink Floyd as it does Morbid Angel. Both the songs or suites, if you prefer, cross the twenty minute border.

It is simply one of those albums where there are so many intricacies present that coming back to it for more time after time again reveals more and more about it. I'm already on my twelfth listen as of putting this review together. While it may need saying that they might be now too far gone for the more purist of death metal fans, for whom these continual let-ups in the intensity may serve as unnecessary distraction, I don't feel that Blood Incantation has moved into the world better described as extreme progressive metal as inhabited by Opeth or Ihsahn: they leave no doubt over their death metal allegiances when they're really giving it welly. This is death metal, just enhanced into a cosmic experience, taking you through stargates to deliver it's message. I am floored by it.

For me, Blood Incantation just released in Absolute Elsewhere not only their best album yet, but also one of the most outright interesting death metal albums to be released for a long time. It is the album that sets the standard for the rest of the year that other bands are going to have to better if they are to dethrone it from being my top album of 2024.

UMUR "Horror Beyond Horror" is the eighth full-length studio album by Japanese death metal act Defiled. The album was released through Season of Mist in September 2024. It´s the successor to "The Highest Level" from April 2023 and the two albums feature the same quartet lineup. After longer gaps between album releases in the past, Defiled have picked up the pace in the last couple of years and are now releasing albums within shorter intervals.

Defiled have evolved and experimented some over the years, but their unconventional technical death metal approcah is still present and accounted for. They have the same old school death metal approach to playing brutal technical death metal as an artist like Suffocation. Which also means that it´s the thrash oriented old school version of death metal that Defiled perform. I´d actually mention Ripping Corpse/Dim Mak as great influences too, because of the extremely aggressive and articulated growling vocal style of lead vocalist/guitarist Shinichiro Hamada. But as always Defiled are completely their own with abrupt tempo changes, unconventional rhythm patterns, and shifts in riff styles, which may on surface sound like business as usual to some, but if you listen a bit closer Defiled certainly aren´t your everyday death metal act. Defiled have always challenged the conventions of the genre, and they continue to do so on "Horror Beyond Horror".

"Horror Beyond Horror" features an organic, brutal, raw, and detailed sound production, which suits the material well. Upon conclusion "Horror Beyond Horror" is a natural successor to "The Highest Level", but to my ears Defiled have made better production choices this time around, and therefore "Horror Beyond Horror" is a step up in quality from the last release (which itself wasn´t a bad release at all). Defiled just seem to thrive better when they apply more organic sounding productions to their music, like they do here. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

siLLy puPPy The Denver based BLOOD INCANTATION has wrested its way up to the top ranks of the world of technical death metal in the last decade through a meticulous melding approach of morphing the old school death metal magic of bands like Morbid Angel and Immolation with the retro space rock effects of 70s progressive rock, a trait that a few intrepid extreme metal pioneers like Opeth and Enslaved have been tinkering with for over two decades now. Finding itself at the right place at the right time just as the world of psychedelic death metal was poised to break through to the mainstream as the newest death metal strain to come of age, BLOOD INCANTATION was more than ready to slay the competition and declare themselves the kings of this adventurous hybridization that finds space rock cozily commingling with brutal death metal bombast laced with concepts of our suppressed history and science fiction (often proven to be science fact).

The band immediately made a splash with its 2016 debut “Starspawn” which showcased the band’s meaty metal hooks and technical wizardry but it wasn’t until 2019’s “Hidden History Of The Human Race” that the band really unleashed its true psychedelic potential with heady concepts wrapped up in psychedelic death metal splendor. The band while always technical in nature also proved to craft a mighty fine progressive metal album and the stage was set for this new extreme metal royalty to wear the crown. Despite the seeming certainty that BLOOD INCANTATION was in it for the long run, along comes the curveball release “Timewave Zero” in 2022 which found the band dropping all traces of metal music like a hot potato and rather totally rocketed off into space with a pure space ambient and progressive electronic style that took more inspiration from Berlin School giants like Tangerine Dream or Klaus Schulze. Had BLOOD INCANTATION gone the way of Leprous, Opeth or Ulver and completely shifted gears midstream?

It comes as great relief (as much as i love progressive electronic music) that BLOOD INCANTATION did nothing of the sort and rather was just allowing themselves to dabble in non-metal playgrounds while recharging their batteries for the next chapter of their metal mojo jounrey. Finally in 2024 we are treated to the newest installment of the BLOOD INCANTATION universe in the form of ABSOLUTE ELSEWHERE, a crafty conceptual sci-fi saga divided into two overarching 3 sections that are called tablets: “The Stargate” and “The Message.” While many were wondering if BLOOD INCANTATION had abandoned metal for the world of progressive electronic on “Timewave Zero,” it seems they were simply honing their chops to bedazzle their fans with an amazing fusion of their already masterful technical / progressive death metal with the more cosmic meanderings of 70s proggy space rock and Berlin School progressive electronic. Even Tangerine Dream member Thorsten Quaeschning appears for a cameo thus cementing this new development as a major leap in death metal ingenuity.

While such a collision of disparate musical worlds can result in a convoluted unconvincing disaster in the wrong hands, BLOOD INCANTATION has proven once again that this quintet of talented musicians can achieve the seemingly impossible on the same level as Opeth and Enslaved have done in the past. ABSOLUTE ELSEWHERE seems to have attained the perfect balance between the detached technical brutality of death metal and the more chilled excursions into the cosmos in the form of heady space rock. While the juxtaposition of these two seems rather dubious, somehow this band forges the perfect bridges to allow the disparate genres to trade off without a hitch. While “Hidden History Of The Human Race” was greatly praised and lauded as some sort of pinnacle of the style, i personally found the album to not flow as coherently as i had imagined however on ABSOLUTE ELSEWHERE the band seems to have ironed out all those peccadillos and forged a veritable masterpiece of progressive psychedelic death metal like no other. While Opeth has tackled both genres independently on different albums, BLOOD INCANTATION brings it all together in a most convincing way.

I think it goes without saying that psychedelic death metal has truly come of age and no better example exists than this latest BLOOD INCANTATION bombshell which produces a bountiful buffet of psychotropic bombast and kaleidoscopic calamity throughout ABSOLUTE ELSEWHERE’s six-track / 43-minute excursion into the realms of sci-fi fueled proggy death metal extraordinaire. Now if anyone told a hardened death metal fan back in the early 90s that someday a band would successfully meld the meaty metal bluster of Morbid Angel with the psychotropic expansiveness of Pink Floyd and the Berlin School scene, nobody could have imagined that such a thing was even possible but here in the calendar year 2024 BLOOD INCANTATION has taken such possibilities into the realms of plausibility with one of the most well-crated examples of psychedelic death metal to emerge. I think it goes without saying that BLOOD INCANTATION has not jumped the shark in any possible way but has only improved its unorthodox genre coalescing manyfold. For my liking there are no missteps on this one, no moments that seem out of place and even the production that links the various styles is impeccable. This is BLOOD INCANTATION’s finest moment yet!

UMUR "Servitude" is the tenth full-length studio album by US death metal at The Black Dahlia Murder. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in September 2024. It´s the successor to "Verminous" from 2020 and there have been a few lineup changes since the release of the predecessor. Firstly guitarist Ryan Knight has returned to the fold, having originally departed in 2016 after an eight year stint with the band. Secondly and on a more sad note lead vocalist/founding member Trevor Strnad took his own life in May 2022. A huge force on the post-2000 death metal scene Strnad could not be easily replaced, but guitarist and main composer (and co-founder) Brian Eschbach took up the challenge and performs the vocals on "Servitude" (Eschbach does not perform guitars on this release).

So it´s of course the number one question when listening to "Servitude", if Eschbach brings the goods like Strnad did on so many albums before this one...and the answer is yes. Strnad was a very unique vocalist and of course Eschbach can´t replace him one-to-one, but I think he steps up to the plate and brings his own version of the high pitched blackened snarling/deep growling death metal vocal style with success. Regarding the instrumental part of the music there´s nothing negative to say about it. This is more or less The Black Dahlia Murder as they have sounded since day one. Predominantly fast-paced, melodic (often neo-classical influenced) death metal with horror themed lyrics performed by an incredibly skilled band. The rhythm section deliver sharp, precise, and powerful drumming and bass playing, the guitarists play one fast-paced and sharp riff after another and deliver loads and loads of melodic lead themes and solos, and on top of it all Eschbach´s high pitched blackened snarling/deep growling death metal vocals.

"Servitude" still stands out a bit from the last couple of releases though, as The Black Dahlia Murder have gone for a slighly less polished and a generally more stripped-down production style, which I personally think suits the material well. It´s a more immediate and instantly effective release than anything they´ve released in the last 15 years. And that´s not a criticism of the releases which came before this one, because they are all great in their own right, but "Servitude" is just a bit more direct and in-your-face.

Faced with an immense tragedy The Black Dahlia Murder never wavered (at least not publicly) and almost immediately vowed to return with a new lineup and keep the band going, and "Servitude" is the proof that they did the right thing. I´m sure Strnad would have been proud of the result. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

siLLy puPPy My current mantra has become “So much music, so little time” as the more i explore the vast universe of musical expressions that have been recorded i feel like the branches on the tree grow faster than i can count the leaves that have grown but such is the life of the intrepid seeker of sonic possibilities with yet another band that has eluded me for so long yet now am finally tackling only to find another veritable pool of talented that has escaped my radar. The Rochester, Minnesota act AMIENSUS has been churning out its unique style of progressive black metal since 2010 and has become one of those underground sensations where it takes the Enslaved post-Mardraum route of fusing raging black metal fury with the more nuanced compositional flair of modern progressive rock. This band has not exactly been prolific with only five albums under its belt since its 2012 debut “Restoration” but 2024 has been graced with not one but two new albums which most likely could’ve been released as a single double album but has become a two part set of albums instead.

Following in the footsteps of “Reclamation: Part 1” which was released in April is the second coming aptly titled RECLAMATION: PART 2 which came out in August. Shamefully i missed chapter one of this combo package separated by time but considering i find lyrics and concepts secondary to my musical exploration i decided to just take the plunge into the world of AMIENSUS and just check out the latest and what some consider the greatest of the AMIENSUS canon. Well, how’s it hold up? Remarkably well actually! This band has mastered the art of crafty dynamics which allows the brash bravado of black metal to sit peacefully in the same corner as dreamy atmospheric post-rock, clean vocal progressive metal majesty and moments of more “normal” symphonic metal that weave in sophisticated atmospheric constructs into the black ’n’ roll type of grooves that the band nurtures into thundering expressions of grandeur as the band explores the existential themes of philosophy, theology, psychology and mythological subject matter.

With a passionate exuberant musical display of instrumental competency and crafty compositional fortitude, AMIENSUS delivers a satisfying mix of black metal bombast with progressive constructs that allow the seven tracks of 38 1/2 to shine brightly with a rather satisfying black metal style alternating with moments of non-metal ambience whether it be post-rock, Middle Eastern inspirations or just more chilled moments of less frenetic progressive rock. The band has mastered the art of juggling all these elements without the feeling of being forced or stilted. In other words AMIENSUS crafts a continuity and consciousness flow that succeeds quite well in its approach as often these tightrope acts leads to a bumbling clunky musical procession that can often sound stilted and spurious. Probably better to think of AMIENSUS as a progressive metal band with black metal as its primary side sound rather than a black metal band per se as there are many moments where non-metal and just plain progressive metal styles dominate sometimes for entire tracks such as “The Distance.”

Considered AMIENSUS’ most versatile album of its career (although i can’t compare other albums as of yet), RECLAMATION: PART II may or may not provide the appropriate second half of the overarching double album concept but when taken alone as a sole experience it is indeed quite satisfying as a progressive black metal behemoth with uncompromising black metal aggression wrapped up in equally compelling atmospheric extravagance which is as vital an element to the overall AMIENSUS sound as the metal brashness. Of course kvlt purists will immediately diss this hybridization effect but for fans of modern Enslaved, Gris, Negura Bunget or Xanthochroid, this band will definitely appeal to your expansive sensibilities that incorporate black metal into a larger musical context. A lot to like with this one. Excellent black metal riffing that sometimes borders on death metal. Strong raspy vocals that sound like the perfect mix of prog and black metal. Nice interludes that offer breaks from the aggression and interesting atmospheric developments that independently exist beyond mere accent sounds. My first exposure to AMIENSUS was a great one and look forward to a deeper dive.

UMUR "Homicidal Therapy" is the second full-length studio album by Belgian death metal act Bleedskin. The album was independently released in September 2024. It´s the successor to "Blood Reign" from 2020. There have been a couple of lineup changes since the predecessor as only Céline Mazay (guitars, vocals) and Rémy Adam (bass, vocals) remain from the lineup who recorded the predecessor. New in the lineup is drummer/vocalist Logan Dykens, who completes the new trio lineup on "Homicidal Therapy".

Stylistically not much has changed since the debut album, as Bleedskin are still delivering technically well played US influenced death metal. Although they are not a US band, the Dutch in Sinister (who themselves have always been US death metal influenced) are probably the most valid reference. It´s relatively brutal death metal but in the old school fashion with ties to the late 80s brutal thrash metal scene. So Bleedskin are far from being another Suffocation clone, if the word brutal old school death metal should lead you to think that. A band like Deicide is probably a better old school US death metal reference (and to a lesser extent Cannibal Corpse).

Featuring 10 tracks and a total playing time of 30:44 minutes "Homicidal Therapy" is a relatively short release, but what it lacks in length it offers in effective quality death metal songwriting, strong and tight (yet still organic) musical performances, and a powerful, brutal, and raw sounding production, which perfectly suits the material. The snare drum has an odd sound, but personally I appreciate the way it sounds, as it adds a unique character to Bleedskin´s sound. So while Bleedskin won´t surprise you with anything you haven´t heard before on similar releases, they are the type of band who bring the goods. Power, passion, brutality... you get it all here and it´s delivered with the right amount of caustic aggression and conviction. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

siLLy puPPy PYRRHON was one of the first dissonant technical death metal bands to catch the second wave after bands like Gorguts and Portal busted the doors wide open and bands like Gigan and Ulcerate soon followed. This New York City band formed in 2008 and has been haunting the extreme metal underground for well over a decade now since it first launched its debut EP “Fever Kingdoms” in 2010. Wow, what a difference a decade makes for this band’s development. I have never quite warmed up to this band due to the fact that after i picked up its second album “The Mother of Virtues” a few years back that i just wasn’t as blown away as i was with bands like Gigan, Portal, Mitochondrion or the king of disso-death itself Gorguts. After all the hubbub about its latest release EXHAUST however i decided to jump back on the PYRRHON bandwagon and give em another try.

Popular doesn’t always translate satisfyingly brilliant to my ears so with some intrepid hesitation i jumped right in and all i can say is WOW! These guys have clearly been practicing their little nut sacks off since i’ve last encountered them and the results have paid off handsomely. EXHAUST displays a massive leap in sharpening the band’s strongest attributes of clanging out discordant bombastic death metal riffage laced with all kinds of technically infused sidetracking and excursions into proggy labyrinthine excesses however this time around the band has honed its skills to create stronger song structures that ebb and flow in a more consistent manner all the while upping the game in their performances with faster razor-sharp guitar riffs and squeals and a frenetic yet precision controlled bantering of percussion and bass abuse. Vocalist Doug Moore also delivers a heightened sense of death metal mania that veers a bit into the world of grind influenced screams.

Many disso-death bands have tested the patience of their audiences in recent years with bloated albums that pummel your senses past an hour’s playing time which truly is exhausting for such intense uncompromising metal rampage. EXHAUST features ten tracks that comfortably sit at the 38 minute mark which is really the maximum playing time that can sustain most of our attention spans for music this wild and crazed without any moments of catching your breath. While the opening “Not Going To Mars” insinuates one of those classically orchestrated disso-death albums in the vein of Ad Nauseam the short intro quickly bursts into action with an incessant raging flow of blitzkrieg riffing and brutal unrelenting motif and cadence changes all wrapped up in the ugliest discordant harmonic combos possible. Basically the band has clawed its way up to the top ranks of disso-death royalty by displaying a massive leap in instrumental interplay infused with a fertile fecundity previous albums didn’t quite muster up.

This is extreme progressive technical death metal at its finest with a labyrinthine maze of twists and turns lashing out like a wounded dragon writhing about spewing fire as it perishes and taking down the town with it. The surge of creative fortitude lurking about in every abscessed disease ridden track of atonal angularity is simply off the charts making EXHAUST a very exhausting album indeed not because you struggle to stay away but rather the challenge of keeping up with the absolute terror emulating from this quartet of quality noise masters. The controlled use of dynamics, time signatures and tempo deviations take PYRRHON into the ranks of high quality progressive composers without sacrificing nary a nasty quality that makes this anarchic tumultuous stew of crazy crafty disso-death steeped in all the aggression and energetic outbursts that is humanly possible. By far the band’s effort to date and one of the top disso-death albums to emerge in the last few years although this entire branch of death metal has become the top dogs in keeping the tech death metal world vibrant and evolving into the next levels of despair and horrific ugliness. Great job guys!

siLLy puPPy American / Canadian band SUMAC has made quite a splash in the metal underground in the last ten years with its bizarre mix of post-metal, droning and free improvisation industrial feedback techniques. This project was founded in 2014 in Vashon, Washington by vocalist / guitarist Aaron Turner who has participated in a multitude of acts including Doolhof, Drawing Voices, Greymachine, The Hollomen, House of Low Culture, Isis, Jodis, Lotus Eaters, Mamiffer, Old Man Gloom, Ringfinger, Split Cranium, Summer of Seventeen, Thalassa, Twilight and Unionsuit and soon recruited drummer Nick Yacyshyn (Baptists, Cooked and Eaten, Erosion, Genghis Tron, Hard Feelings, Rotting Hills,, A Textbook Tragedy) and bassist Brian Cook (Botch, Onalaska, Roy, Russian Circles, These Arms Are Snakes).

Together this power trio has cruised through the last decade delivering a brash barrage of atmospheric sludge metal in the vein of Isis and other sludge legends however after the collaborative efforts with the Japanese free improv noise guru Keiji Haino, the band has turned to the more experimental, free form and avant-garde which began with 2018’s “Love Shadow” and has slowly ratcheted up the freak show ever since. The band’s latest effort THE HEALER may be about as therapeutic as sleeping on a bed of nails in a burning house yet features the band’s most extravagant journeys into the world of free form noise, feedback freakery and avant-garde extremism. With four tracks that ooze past the 76 minute playing time with the opening “World Of Light” and closing “The Stone’s Turn” hovering around the 25-minute mark, SUMAC has let its freak flag fly full staff in a relentless musical menagerie of sound.

Talk about a long arduous journey where every juncture is spring loaded with crazy sludgy feedback that reverberates to kingdom come and back, the band ventures into moments of hardcore, pure noise as well as death metal and drone metal static overload. Sounding something like a mix of Isis, Eyehategod, Maudlin of the Well, Russian Circles and well, 1960s AMM, this band unleashes a noisy complex labyrinthine procession through a never-ending series of musical motifs that morph into something completely different without losing the sludge metal tones and timbres that keep it firmly planted in that camp. Discordant chords and atonal guitar squeals flitter alongside irregularly timed percussive outbursts, bass bantering and moody growling vocals with a pageful misanthropic demeanor reminiscent of classic Iron Monkey or early Neurosis. This is not an album to experience casually as it will leave you agitated and on the edge of your seat as it wends and winds through volitive unpredictable terrain.

Listening to THE HEALER is a true test in devotion to a craft that is as idiosyncratic and eccentric as a convention of those who love to consume furniture foam. It’s a knotty ugly affair that excels in nurturing all the most ugly and grating elements of sludge metal and couples them with nebulous indecipherable compositional flow, yet this whole chaotic stew is appealing in its unappealing nature. Far from mindless improv, THE HEALER is constructed of chunks of ideas that sort of metamorphose into a new batch of ideas with some stitching together in the context of sludge metal and others dabbling in chaotic noise swirls and droning monotony. While it comes off as pure free improv, the album is actually laced with musicality not only in the chord progressions and cyclical post-metal looping effects but also through order of seemingly chaotic embellishments.

Overall SUMAC delivers the ultimate difficult music listening album with THE HEALER as it ventures into territory that few metal bands have dared tread. The sounds of extreme metal formatted into the stylistic approach of European free jazz, brutal harsh noise improv and sound collages is certainly a difficult pill to swallow especially at such an excessive playing time but even though such albums can come off as ridiculously convoluted and excessively avant-garde for its own sake, i have to say that because SUMAC are such seasoned pros they infuse a vast array of musicality woefully missing from many similar styled acts. While definitely not music you want to play at your wedding, SUMAC delivers all the goods and if you’re into the idea of Khanate meets a more extreme version of Maudlin of the Well then this one’s gonna rock your world!

siLLy puPPy The sludge metal scene may have had its origins in 80s California hardcore punk bands and 90s Seattle grunge but no other place has nurtured it into the gloomy ugly beast that it has become like Lousiana, USA. After all if it weren’t for bands like Eyehategod, Crowbar and Acid Bath the genre never would’ve blossomed into the gift that keeps on giving to the modern era. Must be the swamp gas wafting off those Louisiana bayous or something! While the Baton Rouge based THOU wasn’t exactly part of the original cajun country scene, the band sprang to life in 2005 and has been quite productive releasing numerous albums, splits and EPs and garnering a wider audience as time passes as it takes the unadulterated sounds of brutal sludge metal into the 2020s. The band is the perfect example of modern sludge metal with captivating covert art and a rampaging extremism not heard since bands like Iron Monkey, early Mastodon or Neurosis with their other New Orleans sludge bros included in that list as well.

The band has delivered one of its finest albums of its career in 2024 with its sixth full-length studio album UMBILICAL which has been garnering rave reviews as one of the best metal albums to have emerged in recent years and while such claims seem to be a dime a dozen in this diverse day of varying opinions and array of tastes, in the case of THOU’s latest effort all the brouhaha around the band’s newest album is actually well founded. Like many of the band’s albums, UMBILICAL has been released with a variety of album covers, three in this case with completely different cover art for the CD and vinyl and yet another for the digital downloads. Personally i prefer the band’s album covers that depict black and white scenes from war times and other historical despair from antiquity. Preferring to call themselves grunge rather than sludge metal (well Ok whatever!), UMBILICAL does indeed display more aspects of its ancestry than other sludge metal bands with Alice In Chains chugs, good old fashioned Nirvana inspired self-loathing and at times a rather Stone Temple Pilots simplicity.

But let’s get real here, despite nods to the past in the course of ten caustic distortion-drenched tracks, THOU is the epitome of doom metal infused sludge metal delivering all the misanthropic attributes of what makes the genre distinct, unique and reverberating into the extremities of guitar feedback. THOU is also one of the most angry sounding of the sludge metal world by far with Bryan Funck’s raging screamed vocals that give you a sore throat by merely listening. Add to that the exaggerated use of creepy slow tempos out of the Eyehategod playbook with the occasional more energetic outbursts of adrenalized speedy romps. It’s classic 90s sludge metal through and through but done so well that it makes you remember the days when sludge metal was pure and impregnated with that classic 90s annihilation and pure depressive extirpation. In the modern era where most sludge metal has hybridized with prog, post-rock or dark ambient sounds, THOU emphasizes sludge metal’s punk and grunge origins better than most.

Sure experimental metal and avant-garde forays are always nice evolutionary branches to explore as they create completely different mood settings in hitherto unexplored soundscape crafting but there’s something about unadulterated sludge metal that just resonates so wickedly well with the psyche as if it is the absolute panacea of a cathartic release of pent up rage that goes along with living in the modern world where absolutely everything seems dysfunctional and in decline. While many acts such as Cult of Luna, Intronaut and even Neurosis jumped off this bandwagon decades ago, THOU has continued to remain true to its sludge metal origins and in the process has garnered a slow and steady ascent as one of the guardians of the old school of sludge metal majesty. And it’s not hard to hear why on UMBILICAL as the band delivers one amp splitting guitar squeal after another with vocals so insanely intense as to qualify as scary.

Oh how THOU hath delivered a multitude of musical majesties yond resonates liketh a flame beckoning for an airy gust of inspiration the likes of which bloweth aught competition by the wayside. Rejoice in the beckoning quipping of the art of musical resonance yond captivated by the incessant floweth of the exquisite resonating sounds of sludge purity. Heavy denseness suffocating thy senses liketh a blackened tornado of souls in anguish in pure musical form yond hath been unleashed onto the world in the finest of art forms called UMBILICAL so finely constructed yond coequal Shakespeare himself wouldst tremble in awe at the sheer magnitude of the album upon us anon. For alloweth t beest writ yond the reveled anguish unveiling itself through the pyroclastic floweth of torturous textures and melancholic malaise shall reverberate in the most pleasing of ways as THOU hath polished its musical charm liketh the finest of silver in all of the kingdom.

UMUR "Children of the Morgue" is the eleventh full-length studio album by US death/thrash/heavy metal act Deceased. The album was released through Hells Headbangers Records in August 2024. It´s the successor to "Thrash Times at Ridgemont High" from 2021, which was a covers album, and as "Thrash Times at Ridgemont High" was preceded by yet another covers album in "Rotten To The Core Part 2 (The Nightmare Continues)" from 2020, "Children of the Morgue" is actually the first album from Deceased featuring new original material since "Ghostly White" from 2018. There´s been one lineup change as drummer Dave Castillo who performed on "Ghostly White" died in a swimming accident in November 2018 and he has been replaced here by Amos Rifkin.

If you´re familiar with Deceased and just about everything they´ve released since at least "Fearless Undead Machines" (1997) (minus the covers albums), you´ll pretty much know what "Children of the Morgue" sounds like. The death metal influences are very limited (as they have been for years), and stylistically the material on "Children of the Morgue" is an old school thrash/speed metal style with a major traditional heavy metal influence. The rhythm section is pounding and organic, while the two guitarists play one heavy and hard rocking riff after another, and spices the whole thing up with some blistering leads and great harmony themes (both of which are absolutely brilliant). It can´t be said enough how well playing Deceased are and how engaging the instrumental part of their music is. Lead vocalist Kingsley "King" Fowley has a raw voice and a shouting hoarse delivery, which becomes a bit one-dimensional for the duration of a full album, but there´s still something incredibly charming about his storytelling style and his horror story lyrics which always save the day.

"Children of the Morgue" features a professional and for the most part well sounding production, but I do think the drums feature a flat and artificial sound, which doesn´t suit the otherwise organic tone of the remaining instruments and vocals. It´s not a major issue, but I hope they bring back a more organic drum sound on the next album.

When all is said and done, "Children of the Morgue" is yet another high quality release from Deceased. They have a cult following (including myself) which will adore this release as equally much as they´ve appreciated the previous output by the band, but "Children of the Morgue" is probably not the album which will break new ground for Deceased and at this point in their career I´m pretty sure that´s not their main goal either. These guys just want to play the type of metal that they love and occasionally make it available to their fans and they are arguably successful in doing that. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Necrotica Starlight and Ash really should have been bigger. Oceans of Slumber managed to take their unique goth/prog/doom synthesis and channel it into a softer, more palatable sound with their fifth outing, and the results were often breathtaking. (Mostly) gone were the band’s usual crushing riffs, as they opted to deliver a beautifully haunting gothic rock sound with a heavy helping of Southern flavor. The songs were sweeping, cinematic, and – perhaps most importantly – proof that Oceans of Slumber could diversify their sound without losing the core of what makes their work so special. And you’d think this would all translate to more commercial success and expand their fanbase… but nope, Starlight and Ash mostly came and went. I’ll let frontwoman and chief songwriter Cammie Beverly explain:

“The thing is, we never said we’re never going to do something heavy again [...] people panic when a band puts out an album that does something different. It was a weird time. It came during a time when our music was different from everything else, and I think the record was a bit lost on some people - people that mattered in our realm. The fans got it, and it was received really well, just not by the label!”

That last part is particularly important, as Century Media were pushing the band to play it safe and stick to their signature prog-doom sound with Starlight and Ash – something they certainly weren’t interested in doing. Clearly a change needed to be made. Thankfully, they were scooped up by an unlikely savior in the form of Season of Mist, a label that actively encourages a more progressive, experimental approach to metal music. This must have felt like an absolute blessing to the Texas five-piece, as they’d effectively been given free reign to tweak and redefine their sound as they saw fit. Add a few lineup changes into the mix (which involved replacing both guitarists), and 2024's Where Gods Fear to Speak was already shaping up to be quite an interesting record from the get-go.

And what an interesting record it is! What we have here is effectively a balance between the Starlight and Ash sound and Oceans of Slumber’s older work – think The Banished Heart or Winter. The crushing, oppressive doom riffs are back in the band’s arsenal again; however, they’ve been given more sweeping cinematic backdrops for that extra gothic touch. As such, the group’s penchant for atmosphere is as strong as ever, something that’s evident right from the opening title track. A barren, podding guitar riff sets the stage for all the doom and gloom to follow, as Cammie’s commanding voice glides over the ever-shifting rhythms of the song. But if you listen closely, you might notice that the growled vocals aren’t quite the same as they were on previous records… and that’s because Cammie sung them herself this time around.

Yes, for the first time on an Oceans of Slumber album, her vocals are the only ones you’ll hear from the main lineup. She ain’t half bad at them either, as her gutturals and screams are suitably menacing and brutal; moreover, they provide a nice contrast to her soaring vibrato-laden cleans. The aforementioned title track is a great example of this, but “Poem of Ecstasy” takes the juxtaposition even further; what begins as a melancholic power ballad transforms into an absolute barnburner, punctuated by savage growls and blastbeats. And as with prior efforts, the other members are well-equipped to lay down a complex musical gauntlet behind her, especially in the case of Cammie’s husband Dobber Beverly. He runs through just about every tempo one could imagine, from agonizingly slow doom metal drumming to rapid-fire blast beats – all while displaying plenty of technical proficiency. For a track that captures every facet of his abilities, check out the proggy mini-epic “Don’t Come Back from Hell Empty Handed”.

Meanwhile, the new guitarists fit Oceans of Slumber just fine – almost as if there weren’t any lineup changes in the first place. Chris Jones and Chris Kritikos are certainly serviceable in their roles here, although I must admit that they don’t go beyond the call of duty; the same can be said for returning bassist Semir Ozerkan. Rather, Where Gods Fear to Speak primarily focuses on two things: the musical chemistry between Cammie and Dobber, and the atmosphere of each track. Whether it’s the haunting minimalistic piano work of “Poem of Ecstasy”, the dark brooding synth undertow of “The Given Dream”, or the unsettling dissonance of the guitars on “Prayer” (the latter of which features Mikael Stanne of Dark Tranquility!), the band really know how to set a compelling mood and continually expand on it. And while most of the tracklist fits within the “slow build, intense middle section, epic climax” framework, the closer is perhaps the most striking piece here for how different it is. “Wicked Game” caps off the record with a lovely barebones piano ballad, completely devoid of the heavy riffs and growls that preceded it – bringing the whole experience to a strangely soothing close.

What really impresses me about Where Gods Fear to Speak is that Oceans of Slumber didn’t outright forget or abandon what made Starlight and Ash so special. Instead, this outing inherits its best qualities and meshes them near-perfectly with the group’s tried-and-true sound. As a result, they’ve crafted a wonderful slab of progressive doom metal that puts intricate songwriting, stellar performances, compelling soundscapes, and crushing riffs on equal footing with each other. Where Gods Fear to Speak truly stands alongside The Banished Heart as one of Oceans of Slumber’s finest accomplishments to date.

Necrotica Of all the major bands who mix progressive metal and power metal, Evergrey have had one of the cleanest 50/50 ratios of the two. Sure, you can label Symphony X power/prog, but they clearly lean on the prog metal side; hence all the comparisons to bands like Dream Theater. On the other hand, groups like Blind Guardian and Kamelot – while having prog hallmarks like weird time signatures and elaborate arrangements – are still power metal at their core. But Evergrey? They meld the genres together in a near-seamless way, which is crucial to the atmosphere and aesthetics they’re going for. It allows them to explore a sound that’s equal parts propulsive and tragic; anthemic and haunting; upbeat and pensive.

Let’s take their most celebrated record for example. 2001’s In Search of Truth is a glorious marriage of complex songcraft, a haunting atmosphere, dramatic vocals, and a little dash of power metal cheese; the final result is one of the most compelling metal records of the 2000s. And frankly, that power/prog mix was a big reason that it worked so well. After all, how else could the band explore an outlandish concept (alien abductions), while exhibiting such an impressive sense of drama and mystery? For that last part, you can also thank frontman Tom S. Englund. The guy can read the damn phone book and make it interesting, as he’s adept at treating any subject with just the right level of grace and contemplation. And as Evergrey have soldiered on, Englund has applied this talent to a wide range of topics – be it religion, child abuse, personal strife, or cults.

The group’s newest offering Theories of Emptiness is largely a continuation of their trademark sound, but there are some notable tweaks to the formula this time around. The first change might not be immediately evident on opener “Falling from the Sun”, as this track is your quintessential Evergrey scorcher – rapid-fire chugs, anthemic chorus, impressive guitar wizardry, all that good stuff. But the second tune, “Misfortune”, reveals the record’s most standout feature: the fact that it sounds fucking huge. Much of this is attributed to the vastly improved production, which allows for a more spacious and panoramic take on the band’s sound. As the chasmic riffs of “Misfortune” lumber on, you can hear every little intricacy around you: the orchestral backdrop, the twinkling keyboard melodies in the verses, the subtly shifting bass lines, everything.

This larger-than-life approach applies to much of the tracklist, whether we’re talking about the sweeping gothic choruses of “Cold Dreams” (featuring Jonas Renkse of Katatonia fame!) or the soaring guitar harmonies of “One Heart”. But this isn’t to say the band watered down their sound in the process – the “Imagine Dragons-ification”, if you will. Instead Theories of Emptiness simply introduces a few new twists to their tried-and-true style. And while this is a decidedly less intense and heavy record than we might be used to from Evergrey, the moments in which they do exhibit that energy are as effective as ever. Take “We Are the North”, for instance: atmosphere and aggression collide, as the cinematic keys provide a backdrop for a series of off-kilter Meshuggah-esque chugs. Meanwhile, “Say” locks into an incredible midtempo groove for its main riff, which is equal parts heavy and catchy.

The other shift found on Theories of Emptiness is in the lyrical content – which is to say that it’s a bit more obtuse this time around. Much like The Fall of Hearts by the aforementioned Katatonia, this offering opts for a more abstract take on Evergrey’s usual topics. But it still effectively communicates the same feelings of melancholy, despair, and – of course – emptiness. The album title is pretty apt, as each song seems to explore the concept of emptiness in its own unique way. “Falling From the Sun” sets the stage for this quite nicely, as it details the age-old fight against one’s own darkness and desolation. From there, we get themes of identity (“To Become Someone Else”), personal loss (“Ghost of My Hero”), and general hopelessness (“Cold Dreams”), before wrapping everything up with the closing title track. The lyrics will certainly not be for everyone, as they tend to be very bleak and somber; still, I can’t deny that they’re compelling all the same.

Despite the changes I mentioned, this is still an Evergrey album at the end of the day. It retains the group’s core power/prog sound – albeit slower and more atmospheric this time around – and delivers the same dark, brooding energy they’ve given us for decades now. Theories of Emptiness doesn’t quite reinvent the wheel, but at this point in their career, I don’t think the band are striving for a radical reinvention anyway. This is just an incredibly solid slab of melodic metal, delivered with the band’s signature technical prowess and haunting vibes. Or in other words, another worthy entry in the vast Evergrey canon.