UMUR "Vault of Horrors" is the twelfth full-length studio album by Belgian death metal act Aborted. The album was released through Nuclear Blast in March 2024. It´s the successor to "Maniacult" from September 2021. The two full-length studio albums are bridged by the non-album single "Infinite Terror" from October 2022.

Stylistically the core sound of the material on "Vault of Horrors" is no surprise if you´re familiar with the previous technically well played and brutal death metal releases from Aborted, but when that is said it´s still a slightly different sounding release, because Aborted have invited various guests to perform vocals on each track on the album along with lead vocalist Sven de Caluwé. So some of the these tracks almost work like extreme metal duets. Alex Erian from Despised Icon for example lends his aggressive hardcore snarling/screaming to "Death Cult", which along with de Caluwé´s brutal growling and aggressive snarling makes for a nicely varied vocal part of the song.

When the novelty of the tracks featuring different guest vocalists is over, "Vault of Horrors" however pretty much turns out to be Aborted by the numbers. Sharp and brutal riffs and rhythms, blistering lead guitar work, and variation between fast-paced blasting and mid-paced heavy grooves. It´s all clean, a bit sterile, and if you enjoy this type of massive professional sounding production, a very well sounding album. It´s become a bit predictable what Aborted releases these days (guest vocalists or not), and a bit more grit, sleaze, and organic playing and production values, would be a welcome change on the next release. Still a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

Sheavy Aaannnnddd the winner of most unexpected 2024 album release goes to Toadliquor. 31 years after they dropped one of the most vile, angry, and unique Sludge/Doom metal albums, the legends return with their sophomore release Back In The Hole. So what has changed in the world of Toadliquor’s sound? Not all that much. Vocalist Rex doesn’t quite hit the high, almost ear piercing, throat ripping shriek of old. It’s more of a raspy yell or scream, not quite as powerful, but still communicates Toadliquor’s angst and nihilism. The songs are also (relatively speaking) tighter, and more concise. Less prone to droning off and dropping into feedback, but don’t worry, Toadliquor have lost none of their angry, brutal, misanthropic, crushing heaviness. Every song is precipitous, monolithic Doom leaning Sludge Metal.

However, there is something new in the Toadliquor arsenal, giving this album an experimental bent at times. This being a scattering of various electronic, psychedelic, or almost Post Metal interludes or inflections across most songs. On Recained, Toadliquor delve into a trippy, psychedelic midsection, filled with synth drones and electric pulses, ponderous reverbed drumming, squealing and muted saxophone, and some drowned out vocals. The namesake song and album closer, Back In The Hole, opens with some somber, drifting and depressive Post Rock guitar and synth, before slowly transitioning into the Sludge/Doom pounding and riffing, while the almost melodic guitar parts soar above.

This is an excellent return to the spotlight for Toadliquor.

UMUR "Masters Of Morbidity" is a single release by US, Ohio based death metal act 200 Stab Wounds. The single was released through Metal Blade Records in April 2023. It succeeds the release of the band´s debut full-length studio album "Slave To The Scalpel" from November 2021. This is a two-track version of the single. A single track version of the single (featuring only the title track) was already released in November 2022.

This two-track version of the single features the title track and "Fatal Reality". Both are new original compositions which didn´t appear on the "Slave To The Scalpel" album. Stylistically 200 Stab Wounds play a heavy and predominantly mid-paced old school groove based type of death metal and that hasn´t changed since the debut album. Both single tracks are good quality US death metal and especially the title track is a quality song.

200 Stab Wounds are a well playing band and the single features good quality production values, so upon conclusion this is a good quality stop-gap release before 200 Stab Wounds deliver their sophomore full-length studio album. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

siLLy puPPy As one of the pioneers of symphonic black metal with his innovative band Emperor, IHSAHN together with his buddy Samoth left the 90s as one of the most influential and popular black metal bands of the entire decade. While Emperor would stop making albums in 2001, IHSAHN focused on his side project Peccatum briefly but ultimately reemerged as a solo artist in 2006 with a shift to a more progressive avant-garde metal sound that still retained the core elements of black metal. It all began with “The Adversary” and some 18 years later IHSAHN is still cranking out quality experimental metal with his latest self-titled eighth album once again capturing the attention of the world of extreme metal.

Deviating significantly from 2018’s “Àmr” which saw IHSAHN approaching a more commercial sound at times, this eponymously titled release looks back to the Emperor years and rekindles the spirit of symphonic black metal only this time he replaces the synthesized embellishments with a fuller orchestral sound courtesy of advancements in sampling technologies. While orchestrated metal albums are hardly anything new, IHSAHN delivers a anew approach that eschews a mere symphonic backing and rather features two independent musical scores laid upon each other resulting in not only a more dynamic symphonic metal approach but also by spawning a secondary release that features the orchestral side of the equation exclusively.

Almost sounding like Emperor is playing over a Hollywood blockbuster soundtrack of some sort, IHSAHN crafts his usual mix of nerdy progressive metal replete with all the avant-garde elements that makes him exist in a world of his own along with the black metal raspy vocals, thundering guitar riffs and percussion to match. The album that features 11 tracks at nearly 49 minutes is reminiscent of some of Dimmu Borgir’s later releases that offer an equal playing field for the orchestral musical score that oft soars above the black metal mania. And while the album sounds like IHSAHN has been accompanied by an entire philharmonic orchestra at times, the guest musicians only add up to three additional percussionists and a violinist leaving IHSAHN the chore of handling vocals, guitar, bass and orchestral sampling.

IHSAHN is actually quite a diverse album (would you expect anything else?) with varying tracks that features clean vocal led prog metal as on “The Promethean Spark” to full out raging black metal on such tracks as “A Taste Of The Ambrosia” but scattered throughout are tidbits of pure classical orchestration as heard on the opening “Cervus Venator” and the middle intermission “Anima Extraneae.” Tempos vary, dynamics vary and stylistic approach may but the gist of this is a mix of crunchy black metal in tandem with classical orchestrations. Tracks like “Blood Trails To Love” feature a mix of the clean vocal prog metal with the raspy more extreme black. While hinting at Emperor’s past glories, the metal on this release isn’t nearly as full throttle as such magnus opuses as “In The Nightshade Eclipse.”

Overall IHSAHN is a decent album but it’s a bit uneven with no clear stylistic approach really dominating. While that can become a good thing if the sum of the parts add up to something more profound, this album seems a bit scattered which at times reveals both the metal aspects and the orchestral ones seem to cancel each other out a bit. The novelty of orchestral metal has long worn off and the execution of this seems less than satisfying. The addition of dreadfully long moments such as the album’s 9-minute version of a ballad - “At The Heart Of All Things Broken” is actually really cheesy and i seriously would love to cut that entire track from the playing list.

The album seems to lose steam too much with half-assed percussion and metal that doesn’t get up to full force. The orchestral parts just seem to dance around and don’t really offer a very memorable experience either in a meaningful way. All in all it’s a decent album but hardly one of IHSAHN’s best. All the rave reviews about this bely it’s downsides. I was somewhat impressed on the first listen but more attentive listening sessions reveal serious flaws that i can’t shake. The patchiness of the album ruins its flow but as on all IHSAHN albums there are more than enough moments of triumphant victory. As a true fan i couldn’t imagine not owning this but it certainly won’t rank as a top contender for favorite IHSAHN releases.

Warthur Emerging from a long hiatus, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum make a triumphant comeback. With an orchestra backing them, absolutely pristine production, and themes as dark and foreboding as any they offered up on their original run of three albums, this is a purified and intensified take on their distinctive musical approach, a terrifying metal-in-opposition meditation on human extinction and other weighty topics which runs the full emotional gamut from ethereal beauty to apocalyptic terror.

Not only do the band sound like they've not missed a beat - and in fact, they never did with many of the members having continued to work with each other in Free Salamander Exhibit, perhaps nodded to in the opening track here. Moreover, they began working on much of this material in 2010-2011 (and SQPR, a This Heat cover, hails from as far back as 2004) and have been gently working on it ever since, meaning this album has been brewed, distilled, and refined over the span of a decade. The end result might be the best expression they've ever offered of their creative vision, a keystone which ties their body of work together and which in retrospect it feels like their earlier albums were building towards all along. With many of the band members equally adept at rock and classical instruments, and Nils Frykdahl giving Mike Patton a run for his money in terms of vocal acrobatics, the Museum deploys its full bag of tricks here expertly, everything used purposefully and thoughtfully to best effect.

For a group which started out resembling an avant-prog take on Mr. Bungle, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum have only forged ahead into yet stanger territory; here they make Mr. Bungle's most alienating moments seem outright smooth and approachable by comparison, but never become dryly technical, maintaining an impressive command of atmosphere and emotion for the whole 66 minute running time.

UMUR "Summon Thy Demons" is the second full-length studio album by Swedish thrash metal act Mezzrow. The album was released through Fireflash Records in April 2023. Mezzrow formed in 1985 under the Necromancy monicker but changed their name to the current one in 1988. They recorded two demos under the Mezzrow monicker before being signed for the release of their debut full-length studio album "Then Came the Killing", which was released by Active Records in 1990. "Then Came the Killing" ended up being Mezzrow´s sole album release in their original run, as they disbanded after recording a 1991 demo. They shortly reunited in 2005 which resulted in the release of the "...Then Came the Video" compilation video release, but it wasn´t until 2021 that Mezzrow opted for a more serious reformation. Only two members remain from the lineup who recorded "Then Came the Killing" but 33 years down the line that´s perfectly understandable. The members who remain from the debut album are lead vocalist Uffe Pettersson and bassist/backing vocalist Conny Welén. New in the lineup are Jon Skäre (drums), Magnus Söderman (lead guitars), and Ronnie Björnström (guitars).

To my ears "Then Came the Killing" was close to being a Testament worship release, and while "Summon Thy Demons" is arguably a more mature, meaty, and heavy release, featuring influences from other more melodic thrash metal artists like Forbidden and Heathen too, Testament is still a big influence on Mezzrow´s sound. So it is in the field of the more melodic (yet still aggressive and edgy) Bay Area thrash metal sound that Mezzrow deliver their sharp thrashy riffs and rhythms.

"Summon Thy Demons" features a heavy, powerful, and detailed sound production, which suits the material well and fans of latter day Forbidden and Heathen releases shouldn´t be disappointed at neither the songwriting style, the high level musicianship, or the sound production values of the album. There are many similarities to what artists like those produce these days. So upon conclusion "Summon Thy Demons" is a welcome comeback release from Mezzrow and fans of the genre should find lots to appreciate here, although it´s doutbful they´ll find anything here they haven´t heard before...but that´s not really the point with this type of release now is it? A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Warthur A swirling keyboard line introduces Panic Attack, the first song on Judas Priest's latest album, Invincible Shield - sounding nothing like any of the prior dabbling in synthesisers and more like they've been dipping a toe into the synthwave scene. No, it's not a radical shift in direction - just an atmospheric intro which gives way to metal fury once the song kicks into high gear, offering the most electrifying opening track on a Priest album since Painkiller.

And it never, ever lets up after that! After the excellent Firepower found Priest playing in a very direct, go-for-the-throat style which went back to basics, this one sees them elaborating the song structures a bit in a manner reminiscent of their 1970s material whilst still keeping the sound fresh, offering a sound with blends the fury and pace of Painkiller, the pristine production of their mid-1980s material, and the edge of transgression and defiance they've been offering up since the 1970s, encapsulating the best of all of their classic eras whilst still finding novel and exciting songs to play in this style.

A particular tip of the hat is needed for Glenn Tipton, who despite his Parkinson's still manages to contribute to the album, helping out with songwriting as he always has and putting in a few guitar solos here and there. Andy Sneap of Sabbat fame, who's served as Tipton's stand-in for the band's live shows ever since he stepped back from in-person performance, is credited with additional guitar, as well as fully taking on the producer's role (having co-produced Firepower), and he does a fine job of all these tasks, engineering the album to perfection as well as giving Glenn that essential backup. Given how key he's become to the band's activities these days, we should surely start thinking of Andy as Judas Priest's unofficial sixth member; he'd deserve it based on his contributions to this album alone, but combine that with his sterling work on Firepower and the grand job he does live filling in for Glenn he's surely become as crucial as any of the tenured band members.

Think of any other band who've been going as long as Priest, putting a new album out some 50 years after their debut; nine times out of ten, that new album's going to be a bit of a nostalgia exercise, a process of going through the motions which will appeal to ultra-fans but doesn't really offer much over their more compelling work they put out in their prime. Now look at Priest: it's easy enough to say that Invincible Shield beats the living daylights out of Rocka Rolla, that's a notably weak debut which more or less all of their albums bar for Demolition or Jugulator beat comfortably.

But for Invincible Shield to measure up credibly next to the likes of Sad Wings of Destiny, Stained Class, or Painkiller? That's astonishing - and yet I really think it does. Judas Priest are an inspiration to all the rest of us: if these lads can keep the flame burning after half a century, if Glenn Tipton can keep contributing as he does here despite his Parkinson's, then that's a challenge to all of us to face whatever challenges life throws at us with equal determination. Perhaps that conviction and self-belief - and confidence that their listeners can discover that same fire within them - which is Priest's true Invincible Shield.

UMUR "The Highest Level" is the seventh full-length studio album by Japanese, Tokyo based death metal act Defiled. The album was released through Season of Mist in April 2023. It´s the successor to "Infinite Regress" from January 2020 and it features the exact same quartet lineup who recorded the predeceding album. Defiled are by now one of the most prolific and dare I say legendary death metal acts from Japan, and they´ve pushed the boundaries of the genre more than once.

Stylistically the material on "The Highest Level" is technical and quite brutal death metal. Suffocation is not the worst reference, but Defiled have always had...and still have their own take on the genre. They play an interesting combination of almost hardcore punked and simple death metal and quite brutal and technical death metal, occasionally spiced up with some Voivod influenced dissonance. One of their greatest strengths is the pairing of the savage, raw, and primitive, and the more sophisticated and complex technical parts of the compositions. I struggle to remember any other death metal artists who sound like Defiled...and then again "The Highest Level" is actually their most "regular" sounding release yet, and I was initially a little disappointed that they sounded this normal. But when you dig a little deeper, "The Highest Level" still features quite a few unconventional and challenging moments, so Defiled haven´t completely forgotten what makes them stand out.

After releasing a few albums which have featured what I would deem near experimental sound production values, Defiled have now opted for a more (again) normal/standard for the genre type sound production. To some ears that´s probably a relief and an opportunity to give Defiled a chance again, if your ears weren´t able to appreciate the production oddness of the last couple of releases, but to my ears it´s a bit of a shame, as all the weirdness in regards to both the actual music, the performances, and the odd sounding production jobs of the last couple of albums, were the elements which made Defiled stand out on the death metal scene. So while "The Highest Level" is arguably another high quality death metal release from Defiled, it´s unfortunately their least interesting release in years...please bring back the weirdness. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Warthur The Old Ways Remain! And it's good to know that, because for a while there it looked like Blood Ceremony had fallen off of the radar; after consistently putting out an album every 2-3 years, the long quiet from this doom-tinged heavy psych group was beginning to feel ominous. No need to worry: Alia O'Brien, Sean Kennedy, and the reliable rhythm section of Gadke and Carrillo are back. If Blood Ceremony have dialled back the quantity of releases lately, at least they are making sure the quality is top notch, with this occult rock tour de force as usual combining a solid heavy psych underpinning with O'Brien's distinctive presence on vocals, flute, and organ, delivering a defiant folk horror manifesto. Unless you are one of those for whom Blood Ceremony lost their charm when they dialled back the doom metal side of their sound in order to amp up the psych, there's plenty to love here for anyone who's already familiar, and if you're not it's a perfect statement of what thry are all about.

UMUR "The Age Of The Offended" is the fifth full-length studio album by Norwegian death metal act Cadaver (the sixth if you count the 2001 Cadaver Inc album as part of the band´s discography). The album was released through Nuclear Blast in July 2023. It´s the successor to "Edder & Bile" from November 2020, which was a comeback album for Cadaver after a 16 year long recording break. Band founder Neddo (guitars, bass, vocals) enlisted prolific drummer Dirk Verbeuren (Megadeth, Aborted, Scarve, Soilwork...etc.) and created a duo lineup and it´s the same duo lineup who has recorded "The Age Of The Offended".

After a short intro ("Sycophants Swing") the first "regular" track "Postapocalyptic Grinding" may have you believe that "The Age Of The Offended" is just a continuation of "Edder & Bile" as it´s similar in style to the sharp, aggressive, and fast-paced death metal of the preceding album, but the further you get into the album, you´ll come to realise that Cadaver have done what they always do...create a unique album which somehow still ends up sounding unmistakably like them. It´s actually mostly the production values which are somewhat similar between the two albums and of course the core style, but Cadaver make sure to challenge both themselves and their audience several times during the album´s playing time. So prepare to have a few curve balls thrown your way.

While it´s contempoary Carcass which I´m predominantly reminded of Cadaver are still a different kind of beast and they successfully add both hardcore punk, traces of industrial metal, thrash metal, and traditional heavy metal elements to their death metal sound. Sometimes Neddo sings in a blackened snarling vocal style and sometimes he uses a more rough and hoarse vocal style.

Upon conclusion "The Age Of The Offended" is another high quality release from Cadaver, and I´m extremely content that "Edder & Bile" wasn´t just a one-off comeback album. Hopefully Cadaver have even further album releases in them. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "The Shadow Inside" is the sixth full-length studio album by US, California based thrash metal act Sadus. The album was released through Nuclear Blast in November 2023. It´s the successor to "Out for Blood" from 2006 and there´s been a significant lineup change since the predecessor as bassist and founding member Steve DiGiorgio opted not to reunite with drummer Jon Allen and lead vocalist/guitarist Darren Travis for the recording of "The Shadow Inside", and as a consequence the latter has recorded the bass parts on the album.

Sadus were a pretty prolific act on the brutal and technical thrash metal scene of the late 80s/early 90s but since they released "Elements of Anger" in 1997 only two studio albums (including this one) have come out of their camp and it´s hard not to think of them as a hobby project these days. Even DiGiorgio who always fought hard for the survival of the band has now jumped ship (probably as a consequence of his commitments to his day job in Testament). Hobby projects don´t have to be sloppy projects though, and although Sadus haven´t exactly toured the world lately or made much of a fuzz about themselves, they still have a legacy and a fanbase who are excited that a new album has arrived.

Stylistically this is the core aggressive thrash metal sound of Sadus, but there are a few changes which need to be mentioned. First of all it´s of course noticeable that DiGiorgio isn´t performing on "The Shadow Inside". His unique and dominant bass playing has always been a key element of Sadus sound, and it´s a bit odd to hear a Sadus album without it. Travis has opted for a more normal way of playing bass and while there´s nothing wrong with the bass parts, they aren´t as unique as before or add anything special to the soundscape. Another feature which is different from earlier releases is the drum tone. Allen always had a natural organic tone but on "The Shadow Inside" the drum tone is more cold and sterile sounding.

When you adjust to those changes the material on "The Shadow Inside" is still unmistakably the sound of Sadus, with sharp, aggressive, heavy thrash metal riffs and rhythms, occasionally faster-paced parts, and Travis sandpaper raw snarling vocals in front. The frenetic high-speed playing of the first couple of releases were already lessened on the mid-90s albums, so it´s not surprising that the pace on "The Shadow Inside" is predominantly mid-tempo and heavy, but Sadus still pack a punch and deliver some crushingly heavy tunes.

There´s no revolution of sound or style on "The Shadow Inside", and of course most listeners will miss DiGiorgio´s busy fretless bass playing, but when all is said and done this is still a good quality release and it´s great to know that Sadus still exist. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Terrasite" is the ninth full-length studio album by US, San Diego, California based death metal/deathgrind act Cattle Decapitation. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in May 2023. It´s the successor to "Death Atlas" from November 2019 and the quintet lineup who recorded the predecessor is still intact. "Terrasite" is dedicated to former Cattle Decapiation drummer Gabriel Serbian (also of The Locust among other acts) who died from a fentanyl overdose in April 2022.

Stylistically the material on "Terrasite" is a continuation of the technical death metal/deathgrind of the previous couple of releases. Cattle Decapitation have added some black metal elements to their sound (some of the tremolo riffs and blasting parts), but other than that, they sound unmistakably like they´ve done since "Monolith Of Inhumanity" (2012) or at the very least since "The Anthropocene Extinction" (2015). So this is still frenetic, energetic, brutal, and sharp sounding deathgrind featuring loads of tempo changes, riff and rhythm styles, experimental songwriting ideas, and of course the versatile voice and varied vocal delivery of Travis Ryan in front. He screams, snarls, growls, and performs his gnarly clean vocals when that is called for (this time around he even sings "real" clean vocals on the closing track "Just Another Body"), and nothing sounds like it doesn´t fit or as if it has been forced to fit a song. No clean vocal parts are for example added for mainstream appeal. They are there because they fit the song, and only if they fit the song. Something a lot of more formulaic contemporary artists could learn from.

The lyrical themes are still all sunshine and flowers, describing end of the world scenarios (particularly the end of human life), extreme misanthropy (the lyric line: "There's so many of us that need to die, Like a swarm of flies, there's too many of us" from "Scourge of the Offspring", describes it pretty well), and the need for environmental change. Cattle Decapitation were always a politically charged act and Ryan successfully treads the line between giving up/delivering black hole despair and fiercely fighting for the changes he thinks are necessary for both human and animal life to survive and exist in harmony.

As every Cattle Decapitation album before it, "Terrasite" is not an easy listening experience. Although the sound production values are clear, powerful, and detailed, and you can easily hear every instrument and vocal part in the mix, the tracks are generally pretty complex and requires some spins to sink in. When they do it´s incredible how many details and interesting songwriting ideas Cattle Decapitation are able to cram into their songs, and as a result there is a longivity to their music, which extents beyond just listening to the album a few times. As far as development of their sound I hear several new elements, but most prominently on the 10:15 minutes long album closer "Just Another Body", which is partially a pretty slow and almost doomy track, featuring dominant use of keyboards, which provide the track with an occasional symphonic edge. The clean vocal part on the track is also something new for Cattle Decapitation and shows that Ryan is not done surprising the fans. Thankfully he is still able to keep things authentic and he doesn´t deliver anything too anthemic and mainstream oriented... so fear not clean vocal haters, this is still very extreme metal.

Upon conclusion "Terrasite" is another triumphant death metal/deathgrind release by Cattle Decapitation, which stays true to the style of music they introduced on "Monolith Of Inhumanity" (2012), but follows the natural development of said style from "The Anthropocene Extinction" (2015) to "Death Atlas" (2019) to now this more diverse and varied take on that style. These guys are at the forefront of the contemporary extreme metal music scene and they deserve every bit of hype and recognition they´ve received over the years. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

siLLy puPPy The living heavy metal legends known as JUDAS PRIEST very well may be the longest running metal band in existence having formed in 1970 and never taking a leave of absence for all 54 years and has been unleashing one classic metal album after another. True that a few members such as K.K. Downing have gone by the wayside over the years and lead singer Rob Halford took a brief respite after “Painkiller” but ultimately upon his return in 2005 with “Angel of Retribution,” JUDAS PRIEST has been back and stronger than ever despite a few failed forays into experimental albums such as “Nostradamus” which weren’t exactly crowd pleasers but did offer an intriguing insight into the band’s more explorative nature.


It goes without saying that JUDAS PRIEST fans are headbangers and if these guys want to dabble in psychedelic prog indie rock with polka and Tuvan throat singing then they’d sure as hell better indulge those fantasies under a different band name. Luckily the band got the memo that they lost their true calling and with 2018’s “Firepower” the mighty PRIEST returned to what it does best and that is crank out anthemic arena quality heavy metal, the sound that put the entire metal world on the map in the first place. Well the metal royalty has returned six years after “Firepower” with a brand spankin’ new slab of molten metal ready to deliver the classic JUDAS PRIET goods.

INVINCIBLE SHIELD is the 19th studio album coming out exactly 50 years after its debut “Rock Rolla” hit the scene in 1974! Now THAT’S longevity and what’s even more amazing is that these guys sound more on fire than they did on that debut album that emerged a half century ago! Yes, it’s true! These guys sound exactly as they did in the 80s with razor-sharp dueling guitar attacks, a thundering bass and drum attack and of course the imitable metal god vocal prowess of none other than Rob Halford whose decades of shrieking and tearing it up at the mic has not taken a toll on his distinct singing style. Following very much in the footsteps of “FIrepower,” INVINCIBLE SHIELD does what most classic 80s albums offered and that includes: delivery exactly what the fans expect only change things up just enough to keep the album from sounding like the leftover tracks of the previous album.

It’s hard to believe that after all this time when metal has expanded into countless subgenres ranging from death metal and black metal to bizarre freaky hybrids such as trance metal and the J-pop induced Kawaii metal that JUDAS PRIEST would still be relevant in 2024 but the band has always offered such quality musical performances and in tandem with Iron Maiden is the old guard keeping the thundering heavy metal of yore going strong so many decades after its initial ascent to the throne of heavy music and while INVINCIBLE SHIELD hardly reinvents the wheel or offers a new direction for the band, what it does demonstrate is that JUDAS PRIEST is and still remains the master of this feisty in-yer-face classic heavy metal sound that even the younger generations seem to love when done as authentically and brilliantly as this classic slice of metal history in modern times.

Eschewing any excess experimentation and focusing on the heavy metal thunder of their legendary status, PRIEST is back with a aural assault of 11 tracks and an extra 3 bonus tracks on deluxe editions. Generating a frothing frenzy with the early release of the single “Panic Attack,” JP generated a visceral response that offered both a sense of disbelief that a bunch of guys in their 60s and 70s can still be cranking out such energetic metal as well as a sense of nostalgia for all the longterm fans who have been with them since the old days. Well INVINCIBLE SHIELD will not disappoint any classic PRIEST fans as the album gives the rabid headbangers exactly what they were hoping for in unadulterated classic PRIEST form. And like its predecessor “Firepower,” there may be no surprises lurking here but the consistency of the tracks will assuage the restless souls of diehard classic PRIEST fans.

Overall another great album in classic 80s heavy metal style from the masters of molten metal and living legends JUDAS PRIEST. Every member is firing on all pistons. The twin guitar attacks are up to snuff with all those addictive guitar sweeps and incessant groove pounding as well as the stellar bass and percussive rhythm section. The tracks are all instantly hook-laden and the classic variations of intros, outros, songwriting and contrast between segments reigns supreme. On top of that Rob Halford has lost none of his brash bravado and can still sing like a muthafucker hitting all the high notes and sounding like he’s at the top of his game, something that many singers cannot retain in their 70s.

If nothing else JUDAS PRIEST symbolizes the longevity of the heavy metal music paradigm because after all when the band was attacked in the 1980s by the religious zealots as inspiring suicide and Satanic worship, the consensus was that metal music was just a fad for the immature adolescents and that it would soon fade to oblivion. However after countless witch hunts and accusations of every possible path to the devil himself, JUDAS PRIEST has sallied forth throughout the decades without flinching. And to top it off it seems that the band are in no danger of slowing down any time soon. Could these guys become the very first centurial metal band? Only time will tell! So wrong the naysayers have been and so strong JUDAS PRIEST has become in keeping the flame alive of the old metal ways! All hail the PRIEST!

siLLy puPPy From the early years as Mystery Tribe to the many incarnations of MADDER MORTEM, this Oslo based band led by the indefatigable siblings Agnete Kirkevaag (vocals) and BP M. Kirkevaag (guitar) have been going strong now for well over three decades first starting out as a doom metal band but finding its true calling as a unique mix of proressive, gothic and alternative metals. After a few years of turbulent events such as the death of the Kirkevaag’s father, the band has finally returned in 2024 with its eighth album OLD EYES, NEW HEART which welcomes newbie guitarist Anders Langberg who replaces Richard Wirkstrand who played on the last two albums.

Such tragedies always unleash a wellspring of emotional upheaval and it’s a tried and true catharsis for musicians to channel all those unresolved unsettlements into the vehicle of their musical output and indeed MADDER MORTEM has done just that with a collection of 10 new tracks that slightly exceed the 48 minute mark. Continuing the angsty mix of the alt-goth prog metal style that the band has made their own, OLD EYES, NEW HEART channels the visions of the past into the modernity of the now. While the traditional MADDER MORTEM sounds are prevalent through the album especially on the opening “Coming From The Dark,” the tracks offer a much more diverse serving of musical deliveries ranging from the most caustic and abrasive guitar intros on the extra frigid “Cold Hard Rain” to the more serene placidity of “On Guard.”

The tracks excel in the art of contrast with each pulling the rug out for expectations and offering varying tempos, elements of syncopation, vocal phrasing, riffing diversity and the emphasis on either the prog, alt or goth dominance. What keeps the album fairly uniform in its overall vibe is the combo effect of Agnete’s skillful vocal style as well as the grungy guitar angst in the heavier tracks. Perhaps the most overtly lyrical in reaction to the events of the past year are reflected in the slower tracks “Here And Now” and Long Road” which are almost ballads in relationship to the rest of the album with slow contemplative parts that allow Agnete to display her tender aspects in full vulnerability.

Overall another decent album from MADDER MORTEM that continues its idiosyncratic stylistic approaches only expanding its tentacles into even further realms that touch many disparate arenas. A period of great personal change and growth the band reflects this in a very strong album that forges ahead despite all the adversity. Once again the star of the show is the inimitable Agnete Kirkevaag who has one of the most unique female presences in all of metal and continues to lead her goth tinged prog alt metal into ever expanding worlds hitherto unconsidered. A triumphant return from one of Norway’s most unique sounding prog metallers who forge ahead well into their third decade of existence and still defying exact pigeonholing of its style. While the ballad is a strange track to end the album on, the album for the most part is fairly dynamic and changes things up quite a bit.

UMUR "Resuscitation of the Revanchists" is the fourth full-length studio album by US, Virginia based death metal act Arghoslent. The album was released through Weltenfeind in September 2023. It´s the successor to "Hornets of the Pogrom" from March 2008, so it´s been 15 years since the last album release from Arghoslent. Other than a 2009 split release with Martial Barrage and the 2020 "Unconquered Soldier" compilation album little has been heard from Arghoslent in all those years. There have been a couple of lineup changes since the last album (although they actually already happened in 2009 before the recording of the 2009 split) as lead vocalist The Genocider has been replaced by Ulfhedinn (who is also the drummer in Grand Belial's Key), and drummer Matt Sylvester has been replaced by Aktion T4.

Arghoslent will probably forever remain one of the most controversial and infamous death metal artists out there as a consequence of lyrics dealing with topics like white supremacy/racism, endorsement of the transatlantic slave trade, and other merry subjects, but as always (when I review Arghoslent´s releases) I´ll let the reader decide what to think of that and concentrate on reviewing the actual music.

Stylistically Arghoslent still play an old school melodic death metal style, which features a lot of elements from traditional heavy metal in addition to the basis death metal elements. They have a pretty distinct sound and style and they are not easily tagged or compared to other death metal acts. It´s not that they are jaw-dropping original or anything like that, but they still manage to combine the elements of their sound to end up with something which is relatively unique.

While "Resuscitation of the Revanchists" is a good quality release overall, it does feel though as if Arghoslent have lost some of the momentum and unrelenting energy since their 2008/2009 heyday releases. The bite, the rawness, and highly energetic playing style are now a bit less powerful and less sharp. So this is a welcome comeback, but it´s not the triumphant comeback one could have hoped for. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

siLLy puPPy Right from the getgo the strange Dutch band LASTER was pulled in many musical directions but managed to settle between the disparate genres of depressive black metal and the world of post-punk to create a musical tug-of-war of dominating forces. These mystery men who dress like serial killers from silent film horror flicks emerged from Utrecht in the Netherlands in 2012 and have incrementally taken their bizarre take on the world of kvlt black metal into strange new worlds much in the vein of some of the most unconventional Norwegian acts that went a similar route such as Dodheimsgard and Arcturus.

While shrieking the sounds of pain on the debut “De Verste Verte Is Her” in true depressive black metal form, even at this early stage LASTER found it impossible to crank out an album’s worth of similarly themed music and added an almost unrecognizable post-punk track to the end as if this bipolar band was channeling the spirits of some unseen forces that are vying for control of the creative process. Whatever the case these guys have always been weird and rather than developing an inferiority complex have opted wisely to simply embrace it and let the chips fall where they may. Well the chips have fallen and landed in a most bizarre place, that being on the band’s fourth album ANDERMANS MIJNE (“Another Man’s Face”).

While bearing some resemblance to traditional black metal, album #4 has basically thrown out all the rules and completely disregarding any kind of genre relationship and instead has decided to craft a cauldron of undetectable elements simmered down into a witch’s brew so hypnotizing that anyone attempting a classification process of what exactly LASTER is concocting on its Island of Dr Moreau will fall flat on their face and declare utter defeat. While theatrics has always been a part of the band’s legendary underground charm, the antics have long extended beyond the unusually unique appearance and now incorporated into every aspect of the music and its idiosyncratic mix. Post-punk constructs fortified by black metal tones and guitar swells may be the largest inhabitants of ANDERMANS MIJNE but the album features no raspy shrieks, guttural growls or any metal vocalizations whatsoever this time around.

Finding some kind of truce between all those black metal and post-punk separations, the band retains the jangled guitar tones of black metal but somehow develops somewhat danceable albeit angular groovy rhythms. Decked out with prog and jazz with moments where both shine, the band also rocks the psychedelic trippiness unlike anything they’ve attempted in the past. Verging most on the doorsteps of black metal turned avant-garde outsiders Dodheimsgard, LASTER has embraced the art of hairpin turns and unexpected and every possibility of the element of surprise is what seems to dominate on ANDERMANS MIJNE. Obviously this is some kind of liberation movement moment for the band where they break free from any perceived shackles that tied them to any sort of musical pigeonholing. Free from the confines of genre gravity, the band floats precariously aloof but sheer determination keeps the party energetic and at least focused enough to not wander to far into the prodigious universe of non-metal related musical camps too much and too far astray.

Ultimately ANDERMANS MIJNE is like one of those old-school rickety roller coasters at a classic theme park that is so jittery that you’re too busy holding on to dear life to pay attention to the amazing scenery passing by. The album takes too many liberties and deviations from the norm to be fully comprehended on a single spin. Are they the new Blood Ceremony? The new Faith No More? The new Killing Joke? Dodheimsgard? Well all of the above and none of the above and then some. This is the new LASTER and while they may be moving faster i don’t really think that this is a disaster. While they don’t truly master and do raise the blaster they don’t really shoot the target like a forecaster. Perhaps a quizmaster in a house made of plaster but the circus has come and they are the ringmaster. Weirdo art rock / metal is in the house.

siLLy puPPy Galloping gallantly over the vast plains of the metal universe, Australia’s CALIGULA’S HORSE has nurtured the qualities of a fine thoroughbred in the prog world where the murky bardo area of progressive metal and progressive rock merge into brackish waters. These Aussies have been in the top tiers of the prog metal world for well over a decade now releasing a series of critically acclaimed albums with radiant rise to the upper echelons of prog metal royalty with the combo effect of 2015’s “Bloom” in tandem with 2017’s “In Contact.” The band evoked a larger than life prog metal congeries of tricks and trinkets that has allowed the band to stand out amongst the legions of progger metalheads vying for a piece of the action but these crafty chaps from Brisbane have always been a step or two ahead of the competition.

Changes are what the 2020s are all about the CALIGULA’S HORSE has certainly not eschewed its own series of challenges. In the last four years since “Rise Radiant” was released the band has officially seen guitarist Adrian Goleby exit from the team and now officially a quartet with Sam Vallen handling all guitar duties on the band’s sixth studio album CHARCOAL GRACE which still rock all those Steely Dan influenced add2 chords like no other. CHARCOAL GRACE gracefully offers nine tracks at 62 minutes of playing time and although the famous twin guitar attacks have now been completely abandoned for a more streamlined approach, the album continues the plethora of polyrhythms, the clusters of complexity and the same overall atmospheric ambience meets djent-ish chugging sessions all dressed up with Jim Grey’s fragile vocal intricacies.

Taking on a more Riverside meets Leprous demeanor, CALIGULA’S HORSE has traded the dueling axe action for a more keyboard saturated series of drifting cloud covered atmospheres that find heftier contrasting bouts of prog metal reinforcement. While tamped down a few notches from top peak prowess mode, CHARCOAL GRACE delivers a rather predictable procession of prancing prog rockers like a well-trained steeplechaser navigating a predictable course of action. The band plays it safe and sticks to the playbook for the most part with the expected prog by numbers approach that many a modern prog metal band has fallen victim to and an approach that aims to drift subtly into a more “commercial” acceptance by taming the rough around the edges aspects while amping up the melodic contrapuntal resonance of the complimentary layers of instrumentation.

“The World Breathes With Me” offers CALIGULA’S HORSE fans an instant comfort zone game plan with lush atmospheric developments before erupting into the chugga-chug marathon of djent-fueled guitar plucks and corresponding bass and drum obsequiousness. Add an obligatory four part concept suite of the title tracks and you can’t go wrong but the problem is that at this point in the 21st century, this style of prog metal sounds completely out of fashion and in many ways bands such as CALIGULA’S HORSE have become a fossilized self-induced retro scene of their own idiosyncratic making. Is it bad to continue to make music that doesn’t “progress” like the term “progressive” implies? Well, that’s the million dollar question of course and left to the individual to decide for him / herself but for yours truly there comes a time where it sounds like a band is beginning to regress and there, my musical friends, is the pasture CALIGULA’S HORSE seems to have retired to after a fruitful run on the racetrack.

It’s always difficult for me to be too harsh on bands that have found a comfort zone and a fanbase and have a difficult time balancing the progression part with the cash in to make a living in an increasingly more expense planet to reside upon but at this point this type of prog metal just sounds generic to me and therefore no matter how well played and how perfectly executed in every way, what really matters at the end of the day is how do the tracks speak to me and after sitting through CHARCOAL GRACE and imbibing the sonic frequencies that bathe my very soul, i am left feeling indifferent and unmoved by the dramatic series of sounds that are supposed to evoke some sort of reaction. To be honest, the airy fairy sounding bands in the prog metal world never have appealed to me as much as the more adventurous thrill seekers but every once in a while a band like Pain of Salvation or Leprous proves me wrong with instantly contagious emotionally connective composiitons. Unfortunately CALIGULA’S HORSE doesn’t evoke that same visceral reaction and CHARCOAL GRACE does even less than previous offerings. Not a bad album by any means but sounds a bit too middle of the road for my liking.

UMUR "Where Chaos Thrives" is the third full-length studio album by Danish, Frederikshavn based death metal act Chronicle. The album was released through Mighty Music in May 2023. It´s the successor to "Demonology" from March 2020 and unlike what happened when "Demonology" came out almost simoultaniously with the COVID-19 lockdown, Chronicle got the opportunity to tour in support of "Where Chaos Thrives". "Where Chaos Thrives" features nine tracks and two unlisted bonus tracks, which are the two songs from the October 2021 "Undivided" single.

Chronicle again (like they did on "Demonology") tapped producer Tue Madsen to produce, mix, and master "Where Chaos Thrives" at his Antfarm Studios, and if I had a few minor complaints regarding the drum tone on "Demonology" those complaints are completely gone when listening to "Where Chaos Thrives", which is a very well produced release, providing Chronicle´s music with the perfect platform to shine.

Stylistically it suits Chronicle to add a little more brutality and growling vocals to their music, which they of course had done gradually over the last couple of releases, but it works really well here along with the more dominant blackened snarling vocals. The instrumental part of the music is dynamic with varied tempi, which means both fast-paced sections, mid-paced sections, and slower sections (although not too many of the latter). The lead guitar themes and solos are incredibly well thought out and performed.

So upon conclusion "Where Chaos Thrives" is without a doubt the best quality release from Chronicle up until now, but if I have to make one minor complaint it would be that they don´t really produce music that is particularly unique sounding. You can hear a lot of influences from other melodic death metal artists (past- and present) and if they could conquer that last border and create more original sounding music they have both the songwriting and playing skills to travel even further. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

siLLy puPPy Starting out as a supergroup formed by ex-members of Animosity, Animals As Leaders and The Faceless, the USA based ENTHEOS (as opposed to the Canadian band of the same name) got its start in Santa Cruz, CA before relocating to Nashville, TN. Basically the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist who is the drummer in the live settings Navene Koperweis, this band underwent many lineup changes over the course of its existence that began in 2015 and spanned the course of an EP and three albums, the latest TIME WILL TAKE US ALL which emerged in 2023.

While 2017’s “Dark Future” saw the band as a quartet that relied heavily on keyboards, TIME WILL TAKE US ALL has been whittled down to the mere duo of female vocalist Chaney Crabb and Kopeweis who covers all guitars and drums however former member Evan Brewer does come back only demoted to session musician for whatever reason. This new monstrosity of an album sees the band expand in every conceivable direction with a lot more attention paid to the trippy atmospheres and the outstanding production.

While a technical death metal band, ENTHEOS nurtures a rather psychedelic ambience into TIME WILL TAKE US ALL and employs a mix of stylistic shifts to ensure a more varied album than previous efforts. While the album starts out on sheer brutality mode which showcases that ENTHEOS has lost none of its technical prowess in the ensuing six years since “Dark Future,” the album mellows a bit with “Oblivion” and “I Am The Void” which allows for Chaney Crabb to actually reveal her feminine charm with clean girl singing but wow she can scream and rip like the best tech death metal singers in the business and it’s utterly amazing how guttural growls are fairly genderless in how they are perceived!

TIME WILL TAKE US ALL features nine tracks at over 40 minutes of playing time and although this band has primarily existed as to showcase the technical wizardry of the seasoned veterans on board, this third album reveals that Koperweis is a gifted songwriter in general since the tracks on this third installment allow much more varied passages that range from the usual tech death brutality to surreal stints of psychedelia in the vein of Blood Incantation or other psych death metal bands have conjured up. The beauty is in the details on this one and the fact that Koperweis was in complete control of the project basically means he could take his baby any direction he so chooses and in this case he chose wisely.

With the band’s earliest connections to deathcore, TIME WILL TAKE US ALL showcases all those vocal trade offs between guttural growls and demonically possessed gargling utterances along with a series of various chugging sessions, drumming styles and interesting compositional changes that allow the tracks to drift into a series of changes. The results are quite satisfying as ENTHEOS loses none of the overall brutality of its past but adds so many different layers, recording techniques and sonic flavors that this album is an instantly exciting one. While the chaotic swirls of tech death are never far away, ENTHEOS also chooses to let melodic moments dominate the soundscape for a while. It’s a nice mix between the caustic chaos and the more pleasant placidity of traditional metal moments.

While i was not overly familiar with this band until this release i have to say that i was quite surprised by how well this album is written and recorded. It’s a bonafide treasure as far as crafting a nice diverse palette of sounds that includes groove metal, grunge, jazz, prog and others into the labyrinthine tech death metal workouts. When the melodic parts do occur there are interesting dissonant counterpoints that keep it all from getting even close to cheesy. Koperweis is as much an accomplished guitarist as he is an extraordinary drummer and Chaney Crabb has some of the best female growls out there. A fine example of modern tech death done right. Not that i need my tech death to have moments of melody but it is nice when an album adds some bells and whistles in the production department that offer more onion layers to the mix. If done right it’s magical and this album is really done right.

siLLy puPPy ENTHEOS, not to be confused with the USA based band of the same name, emerged in Montreal, Canada first as Givre but in 2014 changed to the current moniker and then followed the next year with its debut “Ototeman” which featured a progressive atmospheric style of black metal with original singer Jean-Lou David. With this lineup they released two albums, the sophomore effort titled “Le Zahir” and then ENTHEOS returned as a 3-piece for the 2020 EP titled “Continent.”

After a few years of reorganizing ENTHEOS has returned with newbie vocalist Laurent Bellemare and a shift from the world of atmospheric black to the world of Gorguts inspired technical death metal. ACÉDIE places the band in the modern world of technical disso-death in the vein of Sunless, Ulcerate, Veilburner and a whole slew of modern noise makers. This album is rather short with only six tracks that don’t even add up to 30 minutes playing time but the impact these caustic beasts of sonic terror leave is no less than exhilarating.

Clearly channeling the works of Luc Lemay and his projects (especially Gorguts), ENTHEOS delivers a chaotic stream of consciousness type of disso-death with caustic jangly chords turned up to 11 and off-kilter time signature workouts that place this clearly in the progressive arena. While the emphasis is more on the tech death metal of modern days, the blackened aspects still are retained in the creepy tones of the guitar and atmospheric contributions. The band walks a tight line between chaotic dissonant death metal in the vein of Ad Nauseam and other crazy avant-garde bands and a more accessible post-metal procession that sorta repeats the riffs with the crazy guitar fills offering some freaky off-kilter wildness.

The only track that deviates form the incessant brutality is the all acoustic guitar intermission “L’étouffeur” which lasts slightly more than a minute and although not metal features the same eerie atmospheres that accompany the album’s run. The final track “Cauchemar” jumps back into the brutal death metal banter only with an stronger atmospheric gloom in the forefront. This chugging manic number is a stand out with jittery choppy riffs that alternate with the acoustic guitars introduced in the previous track along with freaky eerie synthesized backdrops. The track is better at offering a diverse palette of dynamics which segregates it from the rest of the album.

While i wouldn’t consider ACÉDIE or ENTHEOS in general anyway groundbreaking or offering a style that hasn’t been well covered so far, i have to admit that this album is a very interesting mix of disso-death with blackened elements made all the more alienating with the progressive accoutrements. The vocals are most like those of Gorguts with that tortured dungeon beast sort of effect. The riffs are just accessible enough to follow easily while the chaos is always threatening to derail the entire process. A nice mix of tension on this one and clearly a band that still has a lot of potential that perhaps they will take further in the future. As for the overall sound, this is a dead ringer for that classic Montreal tech death scene and while not the top dog of the style, clearly has the chops to get there.

siLLy puPPy Like a prickly saguaro in the Sonaran desert, Arizona dwellers JOB FOR A COWBOY have been a part of the landscape for well over two decades now, first emerging as a electrified unhinged deathcore band and then settling into a more tech death with proggy accoutrements comfort zone. With the debut EP “Doom,” the band proved it has the testicular fortitude to compete with the big boyz of death metal and on the full-length debut “Genesis” found the band deemphasizing the core attributes in favor of a more traditional death metal style with techy overtones. The band kept the ball rolling for the next four album by upping their game and honing their chops which culminated with 2014’s “Sun Eater” which showcases a maturity beyond the confines of traditional death metal but then suddenly went silent.

JOB FOR A COWBOY has remained on unemployment for an entire decade now and presumed MIA but given the Lazarus qualities of 2024 seeing many artists long lost for decades suddenly jumping back into the world of musical output, so too has JOB FOR A COWBOY with its fifth album MOON HEALER which finds the band in full employment mode and crafting a wicked slide of modern tech death metal with a voracious appetite to claw their way into the modern world. Basically a continuation of where they left off, this band surprisingly has not experienced a major lineup change with the same team of Jonny Davis on vocals, Tony Sannicandro and Alan Glassman delivering dueling guitar and bassist Nick Schendzielos however newbie Navene Kopeweis of Animals As Leaders, Animosity and Sleep Terror takes hold of the drummer’s seat to unleash his percussive fury.

A gritty no nonsense style of tech death, JOB FOR A COWBOY’s death metal ethos has not mellowed a bit in the last decade with a feisty bravado that showcases the angst of classic tech death in the midst of a slickly produced modern rendition. Dropping the bomb right away with “Beyond The Chemical Doorway” the band demonstrates its commitment to sticking to the JOB FOR A COWBOY playbook with twin guitars muddled with raw crusty distortion and delivering caustic riffing sessions that stand outside the thundering rhythmic drive of the bass and percussion. Skirting the fine line between the traditional melodic styles of old school death and the nerdier modern disso-death varieties, JOB FOR A COWBOY delivers the dissonant chord strumming of the latter while keeping the tasty guitar licks and leads finely tuned into near neo-classical diamonds in the rough.

The band has actually never sounded better. More tight, more emphatically dedicated to its craft and sounds quite happy to be back in the game of death metal ferocity. Lead vocalist Jonny Davy demonstrates a wide breadth of screams, growls, grunts and guttural gymnastics in tandem with the musical processions. The instrumental interplay and attention to dynamics go a long way as well making MOON HEALER an album you can sink your teeth into. It seems that the prog attributes are exaggerated a bit as this is not a prog metal album in the least. While rampant experimentation and the ability to shift gears in myriad directions goes a long way in sparking the creative infusion that these musician’s have fueled, the compositions don’t drift off into crazy psychedelic prog oriented off-world planetary orbits in the way more recent bands like Blood Incantation, Morbus Chron or Fallujah have dished out. These guys are more direct in their approach.

Overall MOON HEALER is a nice re-introduction from long lost friends who have fallen off the radar in the ever-changing world of fast paced death metal. These guys may have fallen on hard times but have bounced back stronger than ever. Feeling confident and refreshed and ready for a new feisty assault on the senses, JOB FOR A COWBOY manifests its own destiny in a series of eight rabid slices of tech death ready to rape your very soul. The album is quite satisfying on many levels but ultimately the one ingredient that the band has failed to master is the art of extremely original tracks that stand out from the burgeoning hordes of modern death metal. A very competent album that ticks off every possible box and then some but lacking enough creative infusion to make the album stand above the best of what the 21st century has to offer. For those seeking the more traditional tech death sounds laid down in the last 20 years this album has a lot to offer but just don’t expect a long awakening from a band that found its true calling as it’s pretty much business as usual however business is good.

siLLy puPPy Founded in 1995 by Norwegian Øystein Garnes Brun to escape the confines of the brutal aspects of death metal with the band Molested, Brun formed BORKNAGAR which has now had a near 30 year run of mixing black metal, folk metal, Viking metal and progressive metal in varying recipes through the course of 12 albums and a consistently changing lineup. As the founder and only member to transverse the band's near 30 year existence, BORKNAGAR has featured 17 different musicians and vocalists adding their signature style so in the process, BORKNAGAR has unleashed some of the most varied albums to be heard in the realms of progressive black metal.

Well Garnes is back with the newest BORKNAGAR album FALL which lands with the same exact lineup as 2019's critically acclaimed "True North." Back for the ride is vocalist / bassist ICS Vortex, lead vocalist / keyboardist Lars "Lazare" Nedland, percussionist Bjørn Dugstad Rønnow, guitarist Jostein Thomassen and of course Brun on guitar as well as taking care of all the mixing, mastering and production. The new album continues in the spirit of the progressive black metal meets folk metal predecessor "True North" only this time around BORKNAGAR looks to the past to add some of the earliest sounds of Viking metal and the crushing razor-sharp guitar riffing of the earliest releases. The album features 9 tracks and clocks in at over 59 minutes. The limited edition digipak offers two bonus tracks (both basically demos).

One thing i can say about BORKNAGAR and that is no two albums are alike. This band is all about exploration and shifting gears into totally uncharted musical territories which is honestly why some of the albums are utterly brilliant and some not so much so but at least i give Brun credit for going where no black metal dared before. It seems in recent years Brun has upped his game and figured out how to balance all the stylistic shifts into a cohesive whole and that is exactly what is the case with FALL, a powerhouse of progressive metal, Viking metal and black metal with the added folk inspirations that have always been part of the equation. "Summits" starts the party with a black metal furor that portends to find the band revisiting the ferocity of the self-titled debut but soon all those notions are put to rest as the clean vocals and psychedelic atmospheres conspire to usher in a Viking metal infused progressive metal touch.

"Nordic Anthem" follows but offers an instantly calmer mood with an atmospheric smothered war march percussive drive and an indeed anthemic vocal delivery of Viking metal that would make Quorthon himself render a thumb's up. The track ramps up the extremely melodic nature of the album and the rest of the album pretty much follows suit. "Afar" offers the same dreamy entryway into a pacifying array of swirling atmospheric ambience but soon erupts into a second wave Darkthrone inspired black metal furor but this album shifts gears quite a bit and it trades off with the mellower clean vocal parts once again. "Moon" just skips the formalities and immediately ushers in a symphonic black metal approach but eschews the raspy vocal style. "Stars Ablaze" is the only overlong track that spends too much time in the clouds. Personally i think the album would be better if this were edited out. "Unraveling" delivers a much needed boost of heavy vs mellow and "The Wild Lingers" delivers a nice mix of both only more directed into the Viking metal camp. "Northward" ends with a nice upbeat furor.

FALL is an epic sounding album, more so than other BORKNAGAR releases. While the emphasis is on the cleaner vocal styles of progressive metal and Viking metal, the black metal raspiness and metal furor is distributed nicely so as to give the album a boost when it needs it most to keep it from drifting too far into near orbit space. The tracks themselves are complex little beasts that meander through various passages, a litany of chord changes, tone and timbre curveballs and a perfect tightrope act between the heavier extreme moments and the Viking folk aspects that often threaten to jettison the metal altogether by going the route of 2006's "Origin." The complex progressive touches allow the album to sail into the distant horizon and the black metal roots keep it all anchored in place so that it can all be reeled back in when the contrast is required to spice things up. The album has some moments in the middle that perhaps the clean vocal drifting drifts too far and outstays its welcome (ahem, "Stars Ablaze," but for the most part the album feels pretty well balanced.

By ending with the uptempo "Northward" the album comes full circle back to the raspy black metal heft that began it all. The vocal tradeoffs come off as natural and not gimmicky and the guitar tones of both the cleaner parts and heavier ones are very nice. BORKNAGAR has for my tastes at least been a very hit and miss band with some of the releases sounding a bit too goofy for their own good as progressive ideas don't always work out so well if not implemented correctly but on FALL, Brun has ironed out all the wrinkles and delivered an outstanding slice of melodic progressive black metal that effortlessly fuses all the band's previous incarnations into a cohesive whole. It seems BORKNAGAR is one of those bands that gets better with age with longevity serving as a friend rather than foe. For those looking for a second wave black metal album, don't even bother but if you are all about progressive metal complexities that features black metal as one of the many ingredients, then this album will not disappoint.

siLLy puPPy DARKSPACE has been something akin to the Star Trek Enterprise in metal boldly going where no man has gone before and was rightfully one of the pioneers in the cosmic and psychedelic realms of ambient black metal. Led by Tobias Möckl, this Bern, Switzerland crew has been around for a quarter century now having formed in 1999 with an amazingly stable lineup of Tobias Möckl aka Wroth (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, synths, drum programming), Zhaaral (lead guitar, backing vocals) and Zorgh (bass, backing vocals). Well that amazing stability has finally been shaken up and Zorgh has jumped ship and replaced by Yhs.

Never the most prolific band in the world of black metal and certainly not the most creative in keeping track of album titles, the band began simply with “Dark Space I” then “II” until it reached the clumsy looking “III I.” Ironically DARKSPACE released an EP in 2012 titled “Dark Space -I” which actually came out before Dark Space III I.” Oh i’m getting a headache now! Not heard from in an entire decade it’s like the band was in the cryogenic chamber awaiting a landing on another undiscovered celestial body in a galaxy not near you and in 2024 surprisingly returns with the fifth studio album DARK SPACE -II. This one is also the first to be released without the consistent black background with the group logo.

Forged with lengthy sprawling tracks that frigidly craft the perfect cosmic soundtrack of a black metal journey into the gravitation-free zone of outer space, DARKSPACE has always delivered a series of sprawlers on their albums and on DARK SPACE -II simply eliminates any pretense of having to name titles at all. This album is simply a single track titled “Dark -2.-2” and at 47 minutes plus is actually a short album considering most of the band’s album are well over an hour’s playing time or at least close to it. Also all of the previous DARKSPACE releases have been re-released on the Seasons of the Mist label and DARK SPACE -II marks the debut for the label as a first timer.

A decade may seem like a long time to us Earthlings but in space time breaks down and to those familiar with the 25 year trajectory of DARKSPACE, this band has had a very consistent sound and only changes things up enough to keep each album from sounding too similar. Referred to by some as “gravity metal” which means space themed metal which is like a the fluidity of a lucid dream, DARKSPACE continues its hypnotizing stylistic approach which delivers both black metal and black ambient in equal doses with various mixes in between. -II continues the business of long sprawling post-rock styled cyclical loops that repeat to infinity with slowly building dynamics and a never-ending incremental change of both the ambient and metal aspects.

Icy cold atmospheres allow long metal guitar fuzz to linger on while raspy vocals gasp for air from the unknown. Droning and glacial pacing allows the lengthy journey to slowly drip drop across the soundscape one measure at a time. Noticeably less metal oriented than previous releases DARKSPACE seems to have mellowed a bit with a stronger emphasis on the dark ambient synthesized sounds often leaving the black metal to sound like a couple of receptive chords simply adding buzzsaw guitar feedback light as if the crew was running out of oxygen and the vitality has been compromised on the lengthy space journey. Whatever the case there is no ferocity like we last encountered on “Dark Space iII I,” just faint guitar and suffocated vocals from the void.

Given the emphasis on the black ambient the album sounds more orchestrated which isn’t necessary a bad thing but the tamping down of the metal elements also makes the drums sound very ineffective as the percussion has become nothing but a metronometer and gone are the blastbeats and variation. Gone too are the guitar solos and various stylistic shifts that offer some relief from the monotony. On the contrary, this one track sounds like it’s stuck in a groove and never really deviates from it. Some of the guitar chugging becomes more activated towards the end but it’s not nearly as vibrant as the DARKSPACE we’ve all come and known to love.

Well it seems like Tobias Möckl might be burning out as both his DARKSPACE project as well as his other flagship ambient black metal baby, Paysage D’Hiver has also been sputtering on fumes in recent years. Perhaps the creativity well has run dry and he has milked this space metal shtick as far as it can go. Don’t get me wrong, DARK SPACE -II is not a bad release at all but in comparison to the releases that ended a decade ago, this one is more like a house cat compared to the wild savage tigers that came before. It’s a devolution of intensity, creativity and ingenuity. Interestingly databases will say there’s only one long track but on the band’s Bandcamp site there are three shorter excerpts but don’t really offer anything new. A tad disappointed in this one. Definitely my least favorite DARKSPACE release so far. Once again i don’t dislike it but it sort of settles on mediocrity.

UMUR "Hymns from the Apocrypha" is the ninth full-length studio album by US, New York based death metal act Suffocation. The album was released through Nuclear Blast in November 2023. It´s the successor to "...Of The Dark Light" (Nuclear Blast, June 2017), although the two full-length studio albums are bridged by the November 2021 "Live in North America" live album. "Live in North America" is a live album marking a significant change in the history of Suffocation, as it´s a recording of original lead vocalist Frank Mullen´s last show from October 2018 before he retired from Suffocation. He is replaced on "Hymns from the Apocrypha" by Ricky Myers. Myers who is also known as the drummer of Disgorge, had been touring with Suffocation in the periods 2014-2016, 2018-2019, as Mullen already at that point couldn´t dedicate enough time to Suffocation anymore. Myers for example did all European shows in those periods. So choosing Myers as the replacement for the legendary Mullen was of course a no-brainer.

Stylistically the material on "Hymns from the Apocrypha" is no surprise if you´re familiar with the preceding releases by Suffocation. If they´ve evolved since the last album it´s details, and Suffocation still sounds unmistakably like they´ve pretty much done since their inception in the early 90s. Brutal/technical death metal featuring multible breaks, changes of pace, brutal thrash oriented riffing, a high level of technical playing, and a brutality level way over the average for the genre. Myers does a good job replacing Mullen although the latter did have a more personal and distinct sounding growling style. The music is spiced up with the occasional lead guitar moment (which are nice for the variation and they are well done too), but as always it´s all about producing the most heavy and brutal music around.

Back when Suffocation first emerged there was pretty much no competition (at least not anyone able to match their level of brutality), but a lot of water has run under the bridge since then, and today brutal/technical death metal bands come a dime a dozen. So in that respect "Hymns from the Apocrypha" isn´t anymore brutal than a lot of other contemporary bands and releases, but Suffocation have the advantage of experience and writing this type of music for 30 years, and when you listen to the album those factors are audible. As on most Suffocation releases variation between tracks is a slight issue, but it´s to be expected with music as brutal as this.

As it´s almost become custom on Suffocation´s releases (starting already on "Pierced from Within" from 1995) they´ve also this time around re-recorded a song from their second album "Breeding the Spawn" (1993) and included it on the tracklist (with Mullen guesting on vocals). This time "Ignorant Deprivation". It may seem odd for a death metal band to re-record tracks from a particular album and include them on the tracklists on several of their subsequent releases (instead of just re-recording the full album and release it, if they feel so bad about the original sound production), but Suffocation have always been able to include the re-recorded tracks in a seamless way and make them fit perfectly with the new original material. It´s pretty much just another testimony to the fact that Suffocation have stayed true to their roots and their sound throughout their career.

"Hymns from the Apocrypha" features a powerful, sharp, and detailed sound production, and although my ears don´t always agree with the clicky metallic bass sound, that´s a subjective observation, and objectively this is a good quality sound production. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

siLLy puPPy Of all the artists to rise from the dead like Lazarus of Bethany in the calendar year 2024, the Oakland based freak show known as SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM was not exactly on my radar. After all, these curators of one of the most surreal Dadaist performance art niches in the entire world of experimental rock and avant-garde metal had a full life with it’s “Grand Opening And Closing” ceremonies in 2001 followed by its most creative and insanely disturbing pinnacle with its following “Of Natural History.” With its third installment “In Glorious Times” the band shifted gears a bit with seemingly nothing left to prove and then closed up shop and presumably down for the count. While rumors persisted it seemed that the creation of the band Free Salamander Exit formed shortly after with album emerging in 2016 announced that the SGM was as history as the fire ravaged fictitious museum of its namesake. But this is SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM and the only thing that can safely be expected is indeed the unexpected.

Seventeen years is a long time for such a creatively insane band to drop off the scene entirely and suddenly reemerge but that is exactly what has occurred in the earliest moments of 2024 when the majestic madness of the SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM has announced its reopening with an invitation to experience its latest exhibit - OF THE LAST HUMAN BEING. Yes, it’s all back and so too are the main curators and partners in crime which has included the mischievous gypsy geniuses Nils Frykdahl, Dan Rathbun, Carla Kihlstedt, Michael Mellender and Matthias Bossi and of course they resurrect their entire arsenal of sound making devices for your listening pleasure. The “Rock Against Rock” troupe has reactivated all the musical mojo that made the first run so magical and once investigated a bit further, it turns out that SGM actually began to write for a fourth album as soon as the third one was complete therefore much of the material presented on OF THE LAST HUMAN BEING actually feels like a natural continuation of where the band left off in 2011. But of course it wouldn’t be SGM without throwing a few curveballs and for that we will always love them.

Perhaps one of the most anticipated returns to the world of avant-prog metal, the new album was made possible by fans crowdfunding the financial creation of it. Perhaps all of those who missed their favorite musical mystics needed to relish in the unsavory thematic events that emerge from the age of the Anthropocene Extinction just needed their fix once again. Well look no further. The band sent out some teaser’s with early video releases for the tracks “Burn Into Light” and “Hush Hush” and proved that they still have that eerie avant-garde connection to the wellspring of ethereal creative conductivity that has once again manifested itself in this larger than life lumpen musicalis from which there is apparently no cure. OF THE LAST HUMAN BEING exemplifies the typical format of the SGM with 13 diverse tracks that take you through the roller coaster ride love affair of avant-prog, freakish metal, psycho-folk, screwball cabaret all the while narrating the musical maelstrom with some of the most head-scratching themes and lyrical content in the world of art rock. The wait is over and the feast is ready for serving. The album is just under 66 minutes long.

Fears of a botched comeback gone wrong are extinguished very quickly as the opening “Salamander In Two Worlds” evokes the same lullaby pacification that “Of Natural History” exhibited throughout its labyrinthine callithump. The tintinnabulation of xylophones and glockenspiels with Nils Frykdahl’s familiar vocal tones feel like a long lost friend. The track exhibits all those bittersweet contradictory musical factors: avant-prog time signature workouts and insane instrumental interplay that these gifted musicians are now famous for. The title makes you wonder if it refers in code to the announcement that SGM and Free Salamander Exit will exist simultaneously although literally the track actually refers to Theodora Kroeber’s biography “Ishi In Two World” which narrated the last known member of the Native American tribe, the Yahis. Ishi became a living museum exhibit and apparently now an exhibit at everyone’s favorite Dadaist institution.

While the opening track exhibits the SGM’s propensity for cleverly crafting intricately delicate melodic developments fortified with all kinds of complexities and dynamic shifts, the following “Fanfare For The Last Human Being” seems to extend back to Rathbun and Frykdahl’s Idiot Flesh days with a marching band type musical procession only embellished by violin-fueled folk and a Stravinksy classical flavor however it is a short instrumental and the third track “El Evil” jumps into the more familiar straight on metallic rockers of “In Glorious Times” only showcasing Carla Kihlstedt’s amazing violin shredding capacity. Strange tribal rhythms, erratic industrial guitar freneticism in avant-funk mode accompanied by Frykdahl’s best possessed by sheer evil vocal performances ensure that this album has lost none of the creative fortitude of its predecessors. All fears of an botched project have officially dissipated at this stage! Woohoo!!! And damn how do these MUSEUM curators make evil so fucking addictive!

The band has also lost none of its propensity for keeping the album flowing in different directions with the chimes of “El Evil” ceding perfectly into the chime-rich short instrumental “Bells For Kith And Kin” which makes you feel like you’ve been teleported to some Tibetan monastery! Next up “Silverfish” which allows Karla Kihlstedt to pacify the soul with her Bjork-ish vocal delivery. Dark and brooding the track begins as a Chelsea Wolfe type of dark ambient pop sound only with a melancholic jig styled violin accompaniment which offers a strange bedfellow with the witchy spell casting lyrical delivery. The following “S.P.Q.R.” actually dates back to 2004 and features one of the most frenetically demented bass runs of the band’s entire output. As the group sings along in unison it almost sounds like some bizarre ritual as the bass and violin shred like Pagini with eerie brooding atmospheres oozing in from the ethers.

“We Must Know More” is another throwback to the marching band rich Idiot Flesh days. Completely devoid of bass and guitar, the track features a tuba, trombone and Frykdahl delivering a sermon of surreality. The catchy melody is almost of commercial jingle value. Perhaps the catchiest track the band has ever released, at least the most accessible. Think of a barber quartet gone psycho-marching band and you’ll get the gist. “The Gift” jumps back into the brooding darkness and the jarring avant-prog musical processions that hop, skip and jump between slow passages and then erupt to fully ignited avant-metal rampage. In other words, it’s SGM caliber weird! “Hush Hush” comes next. One of the videos that served as a sneak peak is actually not indicative of the album as a whole. A tender ballad SGM style narrated by a fragile Carla Kihlstedt, the is brooding and stays in an eerie downtempo sort of speed with Kihlstedt’s vocals soft and contemplative however even this track breaks into a metal sequence in the middle before Kihlstedt regaining control

“Save It!” is one of the most spastic tracks and sounds like some sort of industrial avant-funk, something like you would expect if Primus and Einstürzende Neubauten were collaborating forces with Univers Zero. “Burn Into Light,” also released as a video, visually showcased a bizarre collision of a crow-human alchemist and humans seeking magical knowledge beyond their ability to control. The video was captivating and creepy as hell and what the musical score offers is no less so. An industrial metal rocker with the expected avant-prog workouts, this track fires on all pistons including Kihlstedt’s controlled violin contributions. “Old Grey Heron” is actually the longest track at 7 1/2 minutes. A tale of a heron who only wants humanity to get it together before the extinction event occurs, this post-rocker resembles the track “The Creature” from “Of Natural History” at least in Frykdahl’s lyrical delivery. The music is less punctuated by avant-prog stabs and rather remains calm and calculated and perhaps the most free-flowing track the band has thus penned. The time signature workouts are kept to a minimum and the minimalist approach (by SGM standards) ensures the message is uninterrupted. Even the metallic heaviness is more like a “normal” alternative rock / metal band than anything remotely SGM. The trumpet adds a nice mariachi band touch.

You have to put your rose-colored glasses on for the album’s grand finale, “Rose-Colored Song” which bookends the album much like it began with a tinkling of a glockenspiel that resembles a music box and a fairy tale soundtrack quality with psycho-cabaret overtones. As the Disneyland-esque theme park ride giddiness cedes to bizarre industrial sound effects, the sputters on aimlessly allowing a dark brooding atmosphere to slowly bid you farewell from the latest MUSEUM exhibit. Once against the light and the dark wrestle for world domination and once again a truce of the forces keeps the cliffhanger in perpetual motion. And then it’s done leaving you to wonder how this album stacks up against its predecessors. Well after a few spins already, i have to say REMARKABLY WELL! With nothing left to prove it seems that SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM was content to simply mine its entire history in order to retain a sense of familiarity yet allowing new ideas to organically coalesce into the greater mix. In other words this album exceeded all expectations and proves to me that this band of musical troupes really is one of the most creative forces on the planet par none.

OF THE LAST HUMAN BEING really does feel like a continuation of the band’s earlier trilogy and although i have heard no announcements of the band’s future, we can only hope that at least another trilogy is on the drawing board. While my expectations were set low as to avoid any disappointment whatsoever, it comes as one of the most pleasant surprises of 2024 that a band so talented could pull off a proper comeback nearly two decades down the pike. A brilliant and instantly palatable set of tracks will allow any fans to instantly regale in past endeavors only set to the immediacy of the 2020s. Perhaps a bit more accessible than the albums that preceded but only in a way that is logical and allows the continuity of the album’s entire run to play out. It’s true that the metal aspects of “In Glorious Times” have been tamped down quite a bit but on the bright side the playful and often giddy larger playground of instrumentation that was so missed on the previous album has returned to generate one of the most ingenious album experiences of the 2020s. SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM is not only back with a new exhibit but one has produced yet another masterpiece of magnetic music magic unlike any other. Oh rejoice for the pleasures of life are too fleeting and too few.

BitterJalapeno Vitriol has had four and half years to produce a follow-up to the cacophonous monolith "To Bathe from the Throat of Cowardice". Evidently, the band has used this time wisely and are back with an updated lineup, and a notable upgrade in sound. While their debut showcased some of the most punishingly frenetic death metal ever put to wax, "Suffer & Become" shows a fraction more restraint, with the Portland-based quartet paying more attention to compositional and structural diversity. That said, it should be stressed that this is no walk in the park - "Suffer & Become" is still so utterly bewildering in its complexity and so overbearingly intense that a casual attempt at listening will most likely end swiftly, even for death metal enthusiasts. This is best reserved for the most masochistic of listeners willing to suffer and become at one with torture, ultimately reaping the tumultuous rewards of giving this monster their full and undivided attention.

"Suffer & Become" is distinguishable from its predecessor through a few slight augmentations to their richly textured tech death which, when combined, yield delightfully successful results. Although its compositional base still lands you in the same hurricane of incomprehensibly intense drumming and discordant riffs, the use of melody is key in giving the album a platform of its own. After opener “Shame and its Afterbirth” has beaten you to a pulp, virtuosic guitar leads machete their way through the carnage to temporarily save your soul in majestic fashion. “The Isolating Lie of Learning Another” also shines in this respect with a brief yet triumphant solo, soaring joyously above the chaos. A greater variance in tempo also pays dividends with the slower, lumbering groove of “The Flowers of Sadism” and “I am Every Enemy” helping to break up the incessant rapid-fire drumming. “Survival’s Careening Inertia” provides arguably the starkest contrast on the album with clean guitar dominating the first few minutes, serving as a short intermission. The track gradually builds in intensity before morphing into monstrously dark and atmospheric epic outro, rich in swirling overdriven leads and ominous synths. From this point on, the album is consistently at its most brutal, tormenting you with a tirade of chaotic riffs, near constant double bass peddling and snarling interplay between equally ferocious vocalists, one in the death camp and one with a spine-chilling black metal shriek.

Despite all this talk of diversification, one thing is certain: no matter what respite you are granted, Vitriol will slam you straight back down into the depths of hell almost immediately. "Suffer & Become" is so suffocating and oppressive that after several listens, you still won’t have made much progress with unpacking its contents. Perseverance will reward and those with enough patience will enjoy an astounding sophomore that displays a supreme level of technical skill and an insatiable thirst for pushing the limits of death metal. If it were to push any further, Vitriol may collapse under the weight of its own genius.

Attribution:

https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/88183/Vitriol-USA-Suffer--Become/

UMUR "Eternal Darkness" is an EP release by Finnish death metal act Soul Incursion. The EP was independently released in December 2023 and it´s the band´s second release after the November 2021 "Infernal End / Intracranial Form" single. Soul Incursion formed in 2021 in Helsinki and the members are- or have been members of other contemporary Finnish death- and thrash metal acts like Brainspoon and Grinding Fear.

The thrash metal connection is heard right away on the opening title track. It´s actually not that far from the way thrash metal oriented riffs often find their way into Carcass post-1993 music and there are other similarities too, like the melodic lead- and harmony guitar work. Soul Incursion play slightly heavier grooves though and the vocals are raw shouting/growling and generally pretty far from the raw snarling of the legendary Brits. This is though death metal with thrash metal elements, rather than thrash metal with death metal elements.

Although I find the vocals a bit anonymous and lacking some bite, Soul Incursion are otherwise a very well playing band. It´s audible these guys have been through the early maturing phase of playing in a band and writing music with their former/other projects and have now come to a phase of being more comfortable and skilled in their songwriting techniques. "Eternal Darkness" features a slightly dry but still well soundning, detailed, and powerful production job, so upon conclusion there´s a lot of promise here. If Soul Incursion could concentrate a bit more on the vocals and make them more intense and unique sounding, I´m sure they can produce something greater along the way. For now a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating isn´t all wrong.

UMUR "Unhealthy Mechanisms" is the second full-length studio album by US/Brazilian metal act Go Ahead And Die. The album was released through Nuclear Blast in October 2023. It´s the successor to the eponymously titled debut album from 2021. There´s been one lineup change since the first album as drummer Zach Coleman has been replaced by Johnny Valles (Ensepulcher, Goreshack, Healing Magic...etc.). Still featured from the trio lineup who recorded the debut album are vocalist/guitarist Max Cavalera and his son Igor Amadeus Cavalera on vocals, guitar, and bass.

Stylistically Go Ahead And Die continue the hybrid thrash, hardcore, and occassionally death metal and grindcore style of the first album. Father and son compliment each other on the vocals, with junior delivering slighly more snarling aggressive vocals while Max Cavalera delivers his usual distinct sounding raw shouting vocals. The band are well playing and there´s an organic savage energy featured on the album, which provides the material with the right amount of raw authenticity. This is an angry album with every inch of possible aggression worn on the surface. So subtlety is not a word you can use to describe the content of "Unhealthy Mechanisms".

While the primal energy and savage rawness of the delivery bring the album far, the album doesn´t feature the most memorable songwriting and considering that the novelty factor of the debut album has now more or less worn of (father and son playing together and father being a very prolific musician), Go Ahead And Die now come off a little more like a standard quality act than the greater potential group hinted at on the debut album. It´s still a good quality release featuring effective songwriting (could have been more memorable but still kicks ass), a raw and powerful sounding production job, and strong musicianship. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

siLLy puPPy The Denver based bad boys who brought us the psychedelic death metal world of Blood Incantation had a few more tricks up their sleeves and proved they were extremely competent at producing some of the slickest and freakiest death doom metal as well and a year later in 2012 the trio of Paul Riedl (vocals, guitar), Morris Kolontyrsky (guitar) and Jeff Barrett (bass) started SPECTRAL VOICE and have been playing hopscotch with each band ever since finding massive popularity with ever step they take. Although a little hiccough in the form of the Blood Incantation ambient experiment called “Timewave Zero” may have intervened, the boyz are back with a brand spankin’ new slice of death doom metal!

It’s been five long years since Blood Incantation released its lauded “Hidden History of the Human Race” and lo and behold it’s SPECTRAL VOICE’s turn to have a day in the limelight which sees its sophomore album arise from the cryptic coffins in the form of SPARAGAMOS, a term that in Dionysian mythology of the ancient Greeks refers to the extremely displeasurable act of being completely dismembered alive. Oh the agony you say! Fun stuff in the world of death doom but what a nasty term to insinuate the sonic ripping of the soul that SPECTRAL VOICE has so elegantly mastered in its decade long existence. Time for round two!

Four tracks make up this crushing brush with brash surrealism secured with the slinking sensations of reverberating doom metal guitars augmented with the tortured soul vocals emerging from the underworld. Once again SPECTRAL VOICE showcases its competency in crafting not just mere tracks that slink on to swallow up time but rather provide the basis for a complete escapism into some of the most abysmal and decrepit quagmires of the soul. Mind you that it is virtually undetectable to any connection with Blood Incantation’s tech death antics, SPARAGAMOS stands proudly in a world of its own making, utterly as disconnected from its the greater metal ecosystem as are any limbs that were lost in its making.

Totally separated from the Blood Incantation world by the addition of percussionist extraordinaire Eli Wendler, this gruesome foursome delivers the perfect cauldron of top notch death doom with eerie and ominous atmospheres that perfectly suit the hypnotic procession of the guitar, bass and drum patterns that add just enough spice to the mix to keep the entire shebang from becoming stale. Unafraid to erupt into thundering death metal rampages, the jangly warbles of arpeggiated chords suddenly emulate the wretched horrorscapes in a parallel universe adjacent to the blackened technicalities of Deathspell Omega only the band never strays too far from its main objective of keeping the musical callithump in a clearly focused and directed hybridization of atmospheric funeral death doom.

The slow churning of the opening “Be Cadaver” slowly ratchets up the gloom and doom with cavernous tones and cosmic atmospheres before arpeggiated guitar chords slowly slink into your soul like a parasitic worm with no good intent. The music ratchets up the tension through posty cyclical loops that add ever increasing dynamics in just the right doses so the tension hypnotizes you into a state of sheer terror. Deathened doom metal cedes to heavier cadences that collaborate with churning atmospheres and thunderous metal instrumentation. Graced with the perfect claustrophobic production, SPARAGMOS may not quite be as unsavory as the actual meaning of the term, but for a wild ride into the world of funeral doom turned up a few notches, it doesn’t get much better than these masters ripping through your defenses and nestling in your soul like a parasitic scourge.

It’s always refreshing to hear a band that not only knows how to perform a desired style of metal but also knows how to breathe life into it and alchemize it into something totally above and beyond the sum of the parts. With ingenious passageways through turbulent corridors of repetitive chords and thunderous bass and drum bombast, SPECTRAL VOICE has mastered the ultimate juggling act of composition, dynamics, production and mood construction. The tones of the instrumentation bend and yield to the various whims when called for and obsequiously snap back to the status quo when required like a well disciplined militia. The tightrope may be thin but SPECTRAL VOICE has found that perfect balance between seemingly chaotic atmospheres colluding with doom metal traditionalism that offer one of the most outstanding examples of modern death doom releases of the 2020s. Wow, between Blood Incantation and this band, these guys are on fucking f-i-r-e !!!

UMUR "Icon 30" is the seventeenth full-length studio album by UK doom/goth metal act Paradise Lost. The album was released through Nuclear Blast in December 2023. "Icon 30" doesn´t feature any new material but is instead a complete re-recording of Paradise Lost´s fourth full-length studio album "Icon" from September 1993. It´s released as a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the original album release. Four of the original members who performed on the 1993 album release are still members of Paradise Lost and all perform on "Icon 30". The only member of the original lineup who doesn´t perform on the 2023 version of the album is drummer Matthew Archer who left Paradise Lost in December 1994 after the tour supporting the original album. Quite a few drummers have come and gone since Archer left, but the drums on "Icon 30" were recorded by Italian drummer Guido Zima Montanarini, who also plays with guitarist Greg Mackintosh in Strigoi.

Re-recording "Icon" could have been approached by a number of different ways, but Paradise Lost opted to re-record the album as close to the original as possible. I´m not completely sure why they didn´t take the opportunity to make a few changes here and there or re-arrange a few parts to make "Icon 30" stand out as a different version of the original "Icon" album, but my most qualified guess is that first of all the band are satisfied with the original album as it is and don´t really want to change it, and secondly they probably don´t have the rights to the original recordings, and the only way to make a profit off their own music (and one of their most popular and best-selling releases) is to re-record the album and re-release it. It wouldn´t be the first time something like that has happened. I remember both Flotsam- and Jetsam and Testament having done similar things in the past. I´m sure the band will also say things like they want to introduce the album to younger generations of fans and give other similar reasons, but I´ll go with my original qualified guess.

Meddling with an album release that many consider a "classic" can be a dangerous road to travel, but Paradise Lost have obviously taken great care that the atmosphere, guitar tone, and general sound of "Icon 30" is relatively close to the original album. The drums are a bit different (Archer was not the most accomplished drummer, so it´s not necessarily a bad thing) and lead vocalist Nick Holmes voice has changed a bit over the years, but it´s details and if the goal was to re-create the original album I´ll say that goal is reached pretty well.

I suspect though that for most "old" fans this re-recording is more a novelty release than anything else, as they will always listen to the original album before this one, making "Icon 30" a bit of a redundant release in their collections, but of course there´s always the hardcore fans/completists who want everything Paradise Lost have ever released. Personally I think it´s a lost opportunity to reimagine "Icon". Not that it really needs reimagining as it´s pretty much perfect as it is, but since Paradise Lost wanted a celebration, creating a new and different version of the album would have made more sense and would have given the fans more value for their money. There´s nothing wrong with the content, the performances, or the sound production of "Icon 30" and I´m sure lots of listeners are going to appreciate it but yeah...a lost opportunity it is. Still a 3.5 star (70%) rating isn´t all wrong.

siLLy puPPy EXECQUIAE SACRO is a new band in 2024 that prefers to remain a bit mysterious. Shrouded in penumbra, the band reveals three members in its photo op but doesn’t reveal band member names. This blackened death metal band emerged in Varese, Italy and debuts in 2024 with its first EP titled LEADING A WAR AGAINST TOOLS OF POSTHUMANITY.

This is a filthy, muddy, murky style of suffocating death metal that sounds a lot like war metal in its caustic production but the blackened aspects seem a bit more in the production rather than the music itself. This is a furiously fast style of death metal that sounds a lot like crust punk such as Amoebix as well due to the muddled cacophonous uproar.

This EP features 5 tracks at 24 1/2 minutes each unfortunately sounding pretty much the same as the next. The musicians are skilled and sound like seasoned death metal veterans with crazy blackbeats, chugging twin guitar buzz, a hidden bass under the din and animalistic growly vocals. This is thunderous roar type of death metal and if you don’t mind a continuous monstrous death metal frenzy through a heavy dosage of din then you will love this quite a bit.

The album cover art depicts the musical style pretty well as it does sound like a hellish burning in the fiery pits of Hades type of soundtrack. There are a few death doom parts as well courtesy of one of the member’s involvement with the doom metal band Dionisium. There is also connection to the better known Italian death metal band Hadit also from Varese so obviously there’s an overlap here.

This is a satisfying slice of no nonsense blackened death metal that offers a production similar to those claustrophobic disso-death bands like Portal and Mitochondrion however the death metal here is closer to old school in compositional style than anything that extreme and experimental. Unfortunately this band ends up sounding a bit too generic for its own good but it is certainly a worthy excursion in the sonic death fields of murky blackened death metal. More variety would be good but exquisitely performed and certainly not a waste of time.

siLLy puPPy Ever since the metal universe splintered into the more extreme subgenera in the 1980s, each has played a unique role in expanding the universe exponentially while never totally separating so far that many bands didn’t succeed in straddling the tightrope act of playing on both teams. This is especially true of death metal and black metal with countless bands beginning as one and jumping ship to become the other but then there are bands like NECROWRETCH that adopted the juiciest elements of both and crafted their own sound in that limbo zone in between where they purists dare not tread.

This French band from the city of Valence has been cranking out the extreme metal since 2008 beginning as a crusty old school death metal band before blackening things up with its 2013 debut full-length release “Putrid Death Sorcery.” The band achieved its grounding for four albums but something changed after the release of 2020’s “The Ones From Hell” which found the band barred from touring due to the worldwide pandemic that halted many a plan on the live circuit. Affected by the situation as all of us were, NECROWRETCH focused rather on its following album which took a full four years to raise its booty from the cryptic vaults of the underworld.

The result is SWORDS OF DAJJAL, short for Al-Masih ad-Dajjal which refers to the mythological villain of Islamic eschatology who claims to be the messiah, attracts a large number of followers into following his evil agendas and then ultimately meeting his comeuppance in a staggering fall from grace. Noticeably different on SWORDS of DAJJAl is the complete flipping of the death to black metal ratios with the black metal winning out this time. Much like early 90s Dissection though, this is deathened black metal with the blistering riffing rampage of death metal’s technical aspects while focusing on a black metal procession of tremolo-induced adrenaline rushes.

Still brought to you by founding member Vlad Gutsfucker (guitar, vocals, bass), NECROWRETCH and established bassist Wenceslas Carrieu aka W. Cadaver (member since 2018), the band has seen a new exchange of cast members by being joined by two newbies: ex-Cadaveric Fumes bassist Romain Gibet and drummer extraordinaire Nicolas Ferrero aka Bress only taking on the identity of N. Destroyer on this release. The results equate to a collection of exquisitely performed tracks that perfectly overlays the technical prowess of death metal brutality over the songwriting structure of second wave black metal. Add to that, Vlad perfectly skirts that fine line between guttural growls giving away to raspy demonic possession. The band has mastered its sound well and those four years of polishing this gem have indeed yielded a nice modern fusion-fest of deathened black metal run totally amok.

Well paced and frenetically fierce as fuck, NECROWRETCH delivers a vile and repugnant obstreperousness worthy of its wretched namesake. Playing it safe with a merciful 37 1/2 minute run time, SWORDS OF DAJJAL doesn’t overplay its thematic approach by overthinking the subject matter and attempting to craft a behemoth monstrosity that falls from too much of this without enough that but rather delivers an even-keel dose of metallic furor that will please the old school purists yet titillate the modern seekers of crusty extreme metal that doesn’t simply dig up artifacts of the past for its inspiration.

Overall SWORDS OF DAJJAL is a steady yet wild ride of deathened black metal that is uncompromising and offers a sludgy even crust punk sorta grit. Sure it’s impossible to follow any thematic tales of mythology with the gurgled vocals and lack of Arabian folk sounds piercing the din but in the end who cares. This is simply a fun raucous speed-fest performed by seasoned veterans unleashing an evil as fuck bravado that perfectly accompanies a tale of the rise and fall of a charlatan messiah deceiving the masses into crimes against nature and humanity. An interesting subject matter approach and a satisfying delivery with the musical mojo that is required to walk that fine line between the parallel realities of black and death metal.

UMUR "Outside The Spiral" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Florida based metal act Till The Dirt. The album was released through Nuclear Blast in August 2023. Till The Dirt was formed in 2020 by Atheist frontman Kelly Shaefer after he had written some material, which he didn´t feel fit Atheist´s style. Shaefer is joined here by a couple of the guys from his day job and some other talented players.

Stylistically the material on "Outside The Spiral" is very hard to label. There are arguably some similar technical/progressive thrash/death metal elements to those also used by Shaefer on Atheist´s compositions, but Till The Dirt is still different also incorporating a heavy Seattle rock influence and even some stoner rock/metal influences to the mix. Shaefer both sings clean vocals and screams his lungs out, so the vocal part of the album is relatively varied.

While the music is not technical for the sake of it, it´s still pretty technical music and fans of Atheist´s "Jupiter" (2010) album could find this interesting...if they keep an open mind and remember that this is not an Atheist album. There is a melodic sensibility here, which sometimes touces real melodic territory (like the chorus on the title track), but it´s certainly not a mainstream melodic appeal. This is still way too experimental, heavy, and challenging for a mainstream audience.

The sound production is massive, heavy, clear, and detailed. Again I´m thinking of the production on Atheist´s "Jupiter" (2010) album and hear many similarities. So upon conclusion this may not be an Atheist album, but it´s the slightly more accessible heavy rock/stoner rock tinged cousin to Shaefer´s main project, and while we´re waiting for a new Atheist album, this is a nice little distraction. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "A Sunset Choir For The Daylight Harvest" is an EP release by Swedish death/doom metal (later alternative/progressive metal) act Katatonia. The EP was released through Night of the Vinyl Dead Records in January 2023. The original 7" vinyl version of the EP is limited to 500 copies, but the EP is also available digitally. "A Sunset Choir For The Daylight Harvest" is a re-recording of Katatonia´s 1992 rehearsal demo and the re-recordings were done only by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström (under their original pseudonyms Lord Seth and Blackheim respectively) without contributions from the remaining members of the 2023 version of Katatonia. This is not the first release of the material, as the two re-recorded tracks were first featured on the March 2022 "Melancholium" (Darkness Shall Rise Productions) boxed set.

Needless to say that there is a big difference in sound quality between the original rehearsal demo versions of the songs and these professional studio re-recordings, but if that´s not exactly a surprise, the authenticity and respectful performances of the re-recordings are a bit more astonishing. Especially given the development of Katatonia´s music from 1992 until these re-recordings were done in 2021. But on the other hand maybe one shouldn´t be so surprised as Renkse and Nyström have always kept in touch with their extreme metal roots and have of course also been active in their death metal Bloodbath project when they weren´t busy with their day job in Katatonia. So recording respectful and authentic versions of material they wrote in the early 90s, which is far removed from the latter day sound of Katatonia, maybe isn´t that surprising after all.

Stylistically this is dark, doomy, and melancholic death metal which is strongly influenced by Paradise Lost´s 1991 "Gothic" album. Renkse has a slighlty more aggressive blackened edge to his growling style than Nick Holmes, but the instrumental part of the music has many similarities to the legendary Brits and their equally legendary "Gothic" album. Soaring melancholic leads, ultra heavy riffs, and slow doomy drumming (parts of "Sunset Choir" features faster-paced drumming though). All the ingredients of that particular sound are here and accounted for. One could have feared that the great respectful performances could have been ruined by a clean and sterile production job, but again Katatonia show that they have great taste and understanding of how music written in the early 90s should sound. This sound production has just the right amount of grit and gloom while still being detailed and clear, that you´re transported to exactly the right place, which is one of the functions and success criterias of a well executed production job. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Deities of Deathlike Sleep" is the second full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Grand Cadaver. The album was released through Majestic Mountain Records in August 2023. It´s the succeessor to "Into The Maw Of Death" from October 2021.

Stylistically Grand Cadaver continue the old school Swedish death metal style of their previous releases, but they´ve added a few more melodic elements to the sound and a few more atmospheric sections have also found their way to the soundscape. When Grand Cadaver are most melodic they remind me quite a bit of contemporary At the Gates. It´s of course not surprising given the fact that Grand Cadaver comprise several Swedish death metal scene veterans including lead vocalist Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, The Halo Effect). So this is not melodeath, but instead old school Swedish death metal with melodic death metal elements. So if you can imagine how the bastard child of Bloodbath and contemporary At the Gates would sound like...you´re halfway there.

"Deities of Deathlike Sleep" features a well sounding production job, and not surprisingly Grand Cadaver are a well playing act and Stanne is arguably a great aggressive growling vocalist too. There´s nothing here you haven´t heard before and Grand Cadaver don´t write material which is anything out of the ordinary for the genre, but the album still comes across as highly professional and effectful. To my ears the more easily asseccible melodic moments bring some good variation to the songwriting, which the previous releases didn´t feature to the same extent. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

siLLy puPPy A staggering 36 years since its inception and more than a quarter century since the band’s proper debut “Into The Infernal Regions of the Ancient Cult,” the croaking Colombians known as INQUISITION have not only found a new landing spot in Seattle, USA but have been one of the most consistently original and evil as fuck bands to navigate the world of gnarly goat fueled Satanic black metal. Pretty much the mere duo of Dagon and Incubus, INQUISITION has a larger than life presence on the scene as well as a propensity for lengthy and ominous album titles. Keeping their release schedule of an album every three or four years, these guys follow their 2020 release “Black Mass For A Mass Grave” with the latest addition VENERATION OF MEDIEVAL MYSTICISM AND COSMOLOGICAL VIOLENCE.

Well, surprise, surprise! It’s another orotund black metal buzzsaw guitar chug-a-thon that showcases the band’s 9th album and continues the eerie stylistic approach that has kept these guys one of the most popular bands in the black metal universe. VENERATION stays true to the band’s classic style while continuing to evoke the majestic throne of Satan while navigating the themes of cosmology, metaphysical concepts and all things lurking in the shadows. Not one to detour to overtly into the world of experimentation, INQUISITION retains its classic sound of highly distorted guitars with no bassist as well as Dagon’s most distinct trademark of all, his creepy croaking vocal style which alone sets this band apart from any other. Add to that the idiosyncratic drumming style of Incubus that eschews any technical workouts or blastbeat frenzies but rather simply accents the main rhythm patterns.

Also INQUISITION continues its propensity of dishing out addictive hooky tracks that somehow torture simple melodic grooves into veritable black metal ugliness. What’s new this time around is indeed a bit more of a diverse approach with Dagon expanding his vocal style a bit. In addition to the low guttural rasps is a few moments of clean vocals although kept in a totally evil as fuck style. The track “Infinity Is The Aeon Of Satan” even showcases a backing choir that evokes a Christian ritual but twisted into an evil invocation of the adversary. And of course it wouldn’t be an INQUISITION album without some tribute to the nebulous concepts of some sort of cosmic mysticism and spiritual battles for the promised land where Satan himself rules supreme. In other words, it’s pretty much business as usual for INQUISITION but when business is good there’s no reason to change the merchandise!

For any long time follower of INQUISITION, VENERATION OF MEDIEVAL MYSTICISM AND COSMOLOGICAL VIOLENCE will serve as yet another chapter in this black metal act’s long and established canon. While an anomaly or two does arise in the course of the album’s 45 minute plus playing time, for the most part this is INQUISITION doing what it does best and that would be crafting an album’s worth of instantly likable tracks that never stray too far from the playbook but vary just enough in melodic developments, tempos and riffing styles that it keeps you tuned in for the wild ride. And best of all INQUISITION retains its dynamic individual stamp that is so very hard to retain in the ever increasing crowded world of black metal. In fact i still have not heard another band that sounds like this one. As it stands this release won’t win over any new fans based on its content but for those already in the astral cult, this one won’t disappoint as it delivers the same quality content that pretty much every album has for over 25 years now.

666sharon666 The band called Immortal in the 2010s going into the 2020s isn't the same band as they existed in their 1990s heyday. Abbath, the one mainstay since their debut album Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism in 1992, has been gone since 2015 after the unthinkable happened: he and Demonaz, now the sole full band member on War Against All, the tenth album under the Immortal name, parted ways. There have been legal disputes and now the two are off doing their own things in the black metal genre, Demonaz with Immortal and Abbath under his own moniker. The last album Northern Chaos Gods still had drummer Horgh to offer a bit of continuity from All Shall Fall, their sole album of their first comeback, but this time he has also gone. As Demonaz wasn't able to actually play on any Immortal album between At the Heart of Winter and All Shall Fall due to severe tendonitis (although remained a full member of the band) we find ourselves in the unusual situation where on War Against All there is no musician actually performing in common with those who performed on some of Immortal's best known records.

This is just preamble, because so long as there is one of them performing - Abbath or Demonaz - it's a true Immortal album. And I think that Demonaz is doing pretty well in his new role as lead vocalist as well as being able to play guitar again. This isn't the kind of black metal album that's going to break the mould and neither does anyone expect it to be. Immortal was part of the original early 1990s Norwegian scene and no matter what, they've always been true to their roots.

While I miss Abbath to an extent as the voice of Immortal, I do think that between the two albums Demonax has now done under the Immortal name since they went their separate ways have one-upped Abbath's output. I don't know if there is any bad blood between these two these days about the way things went down between them, or with Horgh, but it feels like if something holds the right to a last laugh, it's Demonaz. He was always the primary writer of Immortal, especially for lyrics, and that has showed in Immortal's recent output. With that said, I'd love for these two to put aside any differences they have and restore the band to what it's supposed to be: Abbath and Demonaz, performing together in a way that hasn't been recorded on an Immortal album since Blizzard Beasts in 1997.

666sharon666 If there is one thing that is disappointing about the latest album from Blood Ceremony, The Old Ways Remain, it's that is has taken so long to reach our ears. It was in 2016 that they delivered Lord of Misrule and, being the latest in a run of exceptionally strong albums, the band seemed like they were at the top of their game. But then they dropped off the map. While whispers of a follow-up started in 2019 with the release of the Lolly Willows single, it's taken until 2023 for the full-length album to materialise.

But since that's the only thing we've really got to worry about with The Old Ways Remain, it's safe to say that Blood Ceremony haven't disappointed with their comeback. In many ways this picks up where Lord of Misrule left off: folksy, flute-laden heavy psych rock that feels straight out of an earlier period of rock music history. They've often been described as sounding like the love child of Black Sabbath and Jethro Tull and while they tend to lean more toward the latter for the last few albums compared to their earlier work, it's a comparison that still holds some relevance. If it actually had been released in the late 1960s to early 1970s, we'd most likely call it proto-metal.

This isn't an album that's going to shock anyone who has heard previous Blood Ceremony albums. Something that is new is that they have thrown in a bit of jazzy saxophone this time around, but mostly this is the fun, distinctive riffs, organ drenched, flute-laden heavy psych we know and love them for. And since they made us wait several years for it, the album goes down a treat. The Old Ways Remain indeed, still valid in the 21st Century.

Artem Grasm1k Review on Leviathan III by Artem "Metalman" Grasmik

"We totally go bananas on the third Leviathan". Probably the best description by Thomas Vikström himself that album can get. Craziest experience. The diversity of the songs just impress as was promised by Christofer Johnsson. In many aspects this album is groundbreaking, it's rare nowadays, when almost everything in music is said and done. Or is it...? This album gives such a question to the listeners and offers wide range of musical encounters. Metal flamenco? Check. Death metal choir? Check. Spiritual musical journey to another dimension? Check. Old Swedish lullaby in metal shell? Punkish bacchanalia? Four counterpoints by choirs at the same time? And much, much more there are on Leviathan III. To understand and to appreciate such complex, not trivial, tricky work you have to listen to it dozens of times. Of course it's a format not for everyone, though I would hardly recommend people who usually don't dive deep into the music to give it a try. Because in our non-stop always fussy world with so much fast food in all areas of life it's like a breath of fresh air, pure art. But it is also like an old treasure chest, that needs to be explored thoroughly and individually because some of the songs can't be be described fully and properly in words, but nonetheless I'll try my best to share my impressions with you.

Out of three parts this one is the most adventurous and heavy. There are some strongest hits here, but not all of the songs on it can be labelled as hits. It just can't be so due to the conception of the album. For hits go check first part of the trilogy. Interesting though, that the album build on extremes between cold and hot in atmosphere. For example there are songs which give you warm vibe (like Turkish Ruler Of Tamag, Amazonian Ayahuasca, Greek An Unsung Lament, Spanish Duende) and cold vibe (Maleficium with choir in Latin singing about eternal frost or Swedish Midsommarblot and Scandinavian Twilight Of The Gods). This contrast I suppose was depicted on the album cover in colours of sandy cliffs and night starry sky.

The album kicks off with heavy banger Ninkigal, which can scare some of the listeners with harshness already at the door (but don't worry, the next song is probably for you). But it also can please some of the old Therion's followers. To be honest I'm not a fan of death metal and it's elements in 98% of cases. Ninkigal is that kind of exception. Remember mentioned death metal choir? It's here and very powerful to say so. And though firstly I perceived it alienated, when understanding of how this song works came, it started to sound very natural. Roughness of death metal choir and really heavy guitar riffing balanced with gentle vocal performance of Lori Lewis and delicate sounds of keyboards. On top of that you get Snowy Shaw's intensive drumming and another epic female choir. Personally to me this song gave a special gift. I usually don't associate songs with colours, more with feelings, moods, images. But this time two colours came to my mind on the first listening: green and red. I asked myself what does it mean? What do I associate it with? A forest and a blood. A forest drenched in blood and soaked in it? Don't know why it dawned on me, but that's cool.

Ninkigal is like a bullet, a deadly one and flies extremely fast to the second song Ruler of Tamag, which is totally opposite to the opener. Very hit-oriented, very interesting, extremely beautiful. The masterpiece. I fell in love with that song (so did my girlfriend, she adores this song). Taida Nazraić with her gentle, beautiful and innocent voice did a great vocal job here conveying emotions. Turkish choir sounds mighty on this one. Who could have ever thought that it can sound so majestic and enchanting. And gratitude goes to Therion for bringing different languages and cultures to the table. In this song I especially love that first verse is played on acoustic guitars given that warm atmosphere, the second one is played on electric clean guitar and the third one's epic orchestral piece bringing that grandiose feeling - the difference between them is so enchanting. The special moment of Ruler Of Tamag for me is the final part, the crescendo, when Big Choir consisted of many Therion's vocalists sings and Rosalia Sairem doing some lead vocals in a manner of Linnea Vikström as a cherry on top (totally agree on that with Christofer Johnsson). I've forgotten to say, song contains some interesting percussion sounds and it is a very beautiful story from Tengrism religion delivered by Per Albinsson.

After the crescendo we get An Unsung Lament... Hard to describe that one. A song for inner circle? Oh, it was already said by Mr. Johnsson... It's awkward. Funny though I think the beginning of the song more similar to Judas Priest's Living After Midnight than to something from Kiss, maybe that's just me. The song itself is more like medley or... a solyanka soup, very delicious as well. Though I have to admit, that I considered An Unsung Lament as a overloaded song with unrevealed potential at first. But after a dozen listens to the song - the understanding of "how it works" came and now An Unsung Lament is one of the highlights of the album for me. My favourite parts are the ones with la-la-la-la-la-la chanting and "...the battle of Typhon and Zeus..." verse. Oh, yes, very nice and outstanding performance by Snowy on drums, especially on cymbals (chief of cymbals). Lori leads us to the end of the song and straight to the next one where she shines.

Maleficium. I'm surprised that this song wasn't chosen as a single by the band, though firstly to be honest I didn't get it (just like Thomas). By the way, Thomas is the beast here! So much energy! Sledgehammer performance! His voice age so well, just like fine wine. Nice choir singing in Latin and touching Lori's vocals just captures your soul. Maybe I wanted a little bit more lines by Lori in this song, but all in all great song. This song is one more example of this strange colour thing - here I got gold and black and associations with dawn and darkness. I was very surprised when I read the lyrics. I also understood about what Gothic Kabbalah vibe Christofer Johnsson spoke, and GK probably my favourite Therion album. But for me this vibe was not so obvious (as in Alchemy Of The Soul from Leviathan II for example).

Here comes another one highlight of the album - Ayahuasca. True musical spiritual journey to cosmic domain. Also the Masterpiece. Very catchy and unique song by all means. The second part of the song gives certain relax and chillout feeling. Thomas once again is great here (especially in the meditative vocal part) as is Taida and Rosa. But there is also a very special guest here - Piotr Wawrzeniuk. He gives this song a special flavour. Just like Nalle Påhlsson on bass and Bjorn Höglund on drums. My favourite parts of the composition are "Sing to me of days..." and "Stand amid the waves.../Let the nightingale...". I assume despite all the complexity this song might be played live by the band (especially to their legion of the fans in Latin America). I have to say that I relisten this one more often than any other from Leviathan III. So, I guess that is because Ayahuasca is very unique and sincere musical effort and probably the best depiction of this era of Therion.

Baccanale is probably not among the strongest tracks on the album, but holds some jokers up the sleeve. It starts with heavy riffing double attack and enchanting vocal lines which remind me Arabian Nights by Will Smith from Guy Ritchie's Aladdin 2019 (exactly this version). For me it sets cool oriental tone. But the pure gem here of course guitar battle (Priest like) between Christian Vidal and Kristian Niemann. How I wish it could last longer! They're both brilliant players, their second round is a blast. For me they're equals.

Nordic inspired Midsommarblot is my personal favourite from the album. Some things shouldn't be the best to be loved and held dear. The third and final time when colours came to my mind (Nota Bene: usually I don't associate music with colours at all) it was white and blue - snow and frozen water I thought. Too obvious? Maybe, but I guess Thomas succeeded in writing true nordic song about his homeland. I like this one so much. Thank You, Mr. Johnsson that You make this decision to put it on the album. You definitely made at least one fan happy by that. In my opinion solo in Midsommarblot totally deserves attention. It's super. I also like the decision with the ending, when first comes the silence and then suddenly music appears once again. Well done!

What Was Lost Shall Be Lost No More immediately from the first notes gave me Deggial vibe. Song is a vocal monster, length of the name matches to this vocal madness that's happening here. Thomas once again shines on that one with powerful and astonishing performance. Counterpoints is definitely something Therion do extremely good, maybe even they're the best in that. Hope the band will not abandon such element in their future works. It's useless to try to describe what the magic ciphered in counterpoints. Just listen to it. But I have to say I was surprised when after the solo right at the end came Chiara Malvestiti and put extra logs to the pyre. Brilliant!

Now it's time to talk about something very special. Sometimes magical moments come through the most unexpected things. Duende? Flamenco? In metal??? "Sure" - said Thomas. His true achievement, very deserved. Crazy experiment, undeniably successful (whether you like it or not). And this intro on acoustic traditional guitar composed by Vidal? It's gorgeous! Very soulful. I have to say on Leviathan III Christian Vidal is shining through on the entire album. Applause, Master. On Duende there is another brightest star - Rosalia. She wrote Spanish lyrics of the song and performed so well. My soul was aflamed by her performance. That is something flamenco should do. Very appropriate to use trombone and trumpet on this one. Special credits also go to Snowy for putting such a hard knocks in this song creating nice rhythm. This song (as is An Unsung Lament) especially appreciated by my friend of elder generation, she just loves it! I think the song is definitely the highlight of the album and destined to become fan favourite.

Close to the end another stomper approach - Nummo. This time with Thomas, Chiara, choir and Snowy on drums. Amazing rhythm, as I said real stomper. I like the song from the first listening, very accessible song, very hit-oriented (guess that is why it was chosen as a single). Interesting return to African cultural topic and to Sirius topic.

But everything comes to an end. Now I'm getting serious. I truly believe that Twilight Of The Gods is the best song on Leviathan III and in all Leviathan trilogy. For me it's one of the best Therion's songs in their entire catalogue. Perfect fit for what I call "The Therion" compilation. And what a great way to end such magnificent album as Leviathan III. Mats Leven is a beast and he did extremely well on Twilight Of The Gods. I suppose it is his more Candlemass manner of singing, but it fit so well to this composition. All his trademark sighs and raw energy in the voice empowered this song. So did Chiara's vocals here. She is gorgeous here! I think it is her pinnacle in Therion for the time being. But my personal favourite moment in this song is the part, where Thomas sings "As all returned into Ginnungagap" and till the end. It's a true final crescendo. This song is an example of when all involved members are doing their best for the sake of overall picture. And everyone endeavors to improve the final result as much as possible. Every instrument and voice woven between each other and in overall picture. Orchestra, drums, guitars, keyboards, just everything. Perfect. The true Masterpiece. Hope that Therion will play it live on their Leviathan tour in 2024. I also want to mention that my father, who actually doesn't like symphonic and operatic metal music and doesn't listen Therion was stunned by Twilight Of The Gods when I present it to him (as was I when the single came). I also hope that the band will continue to collaborate with Mats Leven on appropriate songs in the future, because his voice is a very good match to the music of Therion in my opinion. Mr. Johnsson would probably say that I'm a bit nostalgic, but I'm not. I don't believe that the grass was greener, the light was brighter back in the days. But I believe that some old friends of Therion can still give something new, something unique to the band and enrich band's music if given a chance.

It was a long musical journey and I'm very grateful to the band for such experience. Some might say I'm too much praise this album, but it really deserves it. Where is the criticism? Well, considering that I'm not a fan, who always loves earlier stuff more, but the one who likes band's efforts to create something new and always evolve, I don't need to necessarily have criticism in my review. And about such a high mark to the album: it was given not only to the great songs themselves, but first of all to creativity and new approaches, innovations in music presented on Leviathan III in general.

By the way I want to say that Leviathan III has excellent sound, best in years that Therion had. Detailed sound. All the frequencies are audible. All instruments (and there are many of them and many layers on the record) are also audible. Very splendid work by Eric Mårtensson. Except maybe for one thing only (consider it my little criticism), sometime the voices are too deep in the mix, drown in it and not shine on in all their greatness. I know a thing with different equipment and headphones and I tried different, I have a good collection. Of course in some of them situation is better, in some worse. But in most of them it is noticeable. And especially suffered Lori's parts and Merve Çakar's (Ruler Of Tamag soprano) vocals. Well, all in all it's still one of the best mixes in modern era productions.

Thank You so much, Therion, Christofer Johnsson, Thomas Vikström, Lori Lewis, Rosalia Sairem, Chiara Malvestiti, Christian Vidal, Nalle Påhlsson, Björn Höglund, Snowy Shaw, Piotr Wawrzeniuk, Kristian Niemann, Taida Nazraić, Catalina Popa, Fabio Amurri, Merve Çakar, Per Albinsson, Eric Mårtensson, the choirs and all other wonderful musicians who put so much efforts into that opus for us to enjoy! You're the best!

UMUR "Morbid Visions" is a full-length studio album release by Brazilian death/thrash metal act Cavalera. The album was released through Nuclear Blast in July 2023. It´s a full re-recording of Sepultura´s November 1986 debut full-length studio album "Morbid Visions" plus the new original track "Burn the Dead", which closes the album. Normally when the Cavalera brothers work together, they work under the Cavalera Conspiracy monicker (who have released four full-length studio albums before this one), but they opted to release the re-recorded version of "Morbid Visions" under the shortened Cavalera name. The Cavalera brothers also opted to re-record Sepultura´s December 1985 "Bestial Devastation" EP (or more correctly Sepultura´s part of the "Bestial Devastation / Século XX" split with Overdose). The re-recorded EP was released on the same day the the re-recorded "Morbid Visions" album.

While the re-recording of the "Bestial Devastation" EP was maybe a bit redundant as the original is almost perfect as it is, the Cavalera brothers still made a respectful re-recording and the 2023 version of the EP is well worth a listen. Personally I always found the original version of "Morbid Visions" a bit harder to appreciate than "Bestial Devastation" as the original album features a sloppy and unpleasant sounding production job, and therefore this re-recording was something I looked forward to.

The differences between the original recording and this 2023 version are many and apparent. The playing is sharper, you can make out all riffs and rhythms, and the sound production is detailed and defined. I understand many fans prefer the original and almost regard this as a blasphemous attempt to cash in on the enduring popularity of the early Sepultura releases, but to my ears the Cavalera brothers manage to keep things respectful and they´ve even opted for a raw and organic sounding production, which suits the material well. This is not a lifeless, sterile, and clean sounding production job, like one could have feared from a 2023 recording.

I think it´s audible that the Cavalera brothers had fun while they made these re-recordings, but at the same time they´ve obviously spend a lot of time researching and deciding which pedals, tones, and drum tunings they wanted to use, and once again they´ve shown their class and professionalism, but also their unending passion for their material and the legacy of their art. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Bestial Devastation" is an EP release by Brazilian death/thrash metal act Cavalera. The EP was released through Nuclear Blast in July 2023. It´s a full re-recording of Sepultura´s December 1985 "Bestial Devastation" EP (or more correctly Sepultura´s part of the "Bestial Devastation / Século XX" split with Overdose) plus the new original track "Sexta Feira 13", which closes the album. Normally when the Cavalera brothers work together, they work under the Cavalera Conspiracy monicker (who have released four full-length studio albums up until 2023), but they opted to release the re-recorded version of "Bestial Devastation" under the shortened Cavalera name. The Cavalera brothers also opted to re-record Sepultura´s November 1986 "Morbid Visions" debut full-length studio album. The re-recorded album was released on the same day the the re-recorded "Bestial Devastation" EP.

There´s always danger when you re-recorded iconic releases, and it´s no less controversial just because you were the ones who recorded the original release. To my ears the Cavalera brothers has however done a pretty great job here, and the re-recorded death/thrashy tracks sound a little sharper and of course features a more well defined sound production. They´ve managed to still maintain an organic edge and they haven´t opted for a clean and sterile sound production, so there´s still authenticity left in these recordings. "Sexta Feira 13" makes a good addition to the original material as it´s much in the same style.

So upon conclusion I´m pleasantly surprised that this re-recording works well and is worth a listen. Of course nothing beats the savagery and youthful aggression of the original recordings, but this is in all ways a respectful re-recording. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Impii Hora" is the debut full-length studio album by Danish death metal act Asinhell. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in September 2023. Volbeat (and former Dominus) guitarist/vocalist Michael Poulsen started the project with drummer Morten Toft Hansen (Raunchy), and the two began writing material and rehearsing in a downtime period for Volbeat. Poulsen had actually written quite a few riffs during the writing sessions for Volbeat´s "Servant of the Mind" (2021) album, which were too heavy and brutal to be included on a Volbeat album and that´s where the idea to start a new death metal project came from. Poulsen was not interested in ressurecting his old death metal act Dominus, and therefore opted to start a completely new project.

Poulsen recorded vocals for the demos the duo recorded, but he knew right away that he didn´t want to perform vocals on a subsequent album release (let alone on stage), so he asked his old friend Marc Grewe (Morgoth) if he would be interested to join Asinhell as the band´s lead vocalist, and the trio lineup was born. The bass on "Impii Hora" was recorded by producer Jakob Hansen (Invocator) and Flemming C. Lund (Invocator, The Arcane Order, Autumn Leaves) plays guest guitar leads.

Stylistically this is pretty standard heavy mid-paced Scandinavian death metal, which sometimes slows down and sometimes speeds up, but predominantly stays in the mid-paced territory. It´s contemporary retro death metal artists like Baest, Bloodbath, and Wombbath I´m reminded of and quality wise it´s in the vicinity too. Grewe has always been a strong and intelligible growling vocalist, and once again he proves why he is rightfully considered a death metal legend. He uses his slightly more aggressive and semi-growling delivery here more than his more regular death growls, but he sounds unmistakably like himself. The riffs and rhythms are less remarkable. The songwriting isn´t bad but there´s little here which stands out other than Grewe´s vocals and the well played melodic leads by Lund. I don´t really rememember any tracks off the album when it stops playing, and there were very few riffs which I found anything out of the ordinary. Let´s just establish that I expected much more...

The powerful sound production which is sharp, heavy, and brutal also lacks some grit and morbid sleaze, which would have suited this type of death metal a bit better. This sound production is almost too nice and clean. So upon conclusion "Impii Hora" is a competently written, well performed, and professionally produced album, but it´s also a bit formulaic and as mentioned above lacks remarkable riffs and generally lacks memorability beyond its playing time. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

siLLy puPPy Scotland has been the centre of countless enigmas throughout the ages whether it be the secret societies that have instituted Freemasonary or the mysteries of the Loch Ness Monster. Even the northern most part of the UK looks imposing on a map with jagged island chains sputtering out from the very tippy top looking like a child was channeling demons while sculpting an artistic expression. Here is yet another phenomenon from the Northern Highlands and his name is HELLRIPPER. Well it’s James McBain actually and he is the one-man / singer / songwriter / guitarist / bassist / drummer and occasional goat herder by night. McBain comes from the city of Aberdeen, a city of many amazing trivia itself such as the fact that self-sealing envelopes were invented there and of course a long history with witchcraft. That’s where HELLRIPPER comes in!

As HELLRIPPER, McBain has been a busy boy having cranked a whole slew of EPs, splits and albums since 2014. WARLOCKS GRIM & WITHERED HAGS is his newest musical journey into the esoteric world of magick, the occult and Satanism. Once again McBain looks back rather than ahead by creating a cauldron and a list of magical spells to conjure up his own versions of blackened speed metal from the pioneering days of extreme metal. In this cauldron one will find traces of Metallica, Megadeath, Venom, Slayer and even healthy doses of the world of NWOBHM. After adding the proper ingredients of sheep brains, newt’s eyeballs and full moon potato sprouts from Zimbabwe, HELLRIPPER has crafted another 8 tracks that add up to 43 minutes of playing time. Even the album length is on retro mode!

Sounding somewhat like the Japanese band Sabbat only set to NWOBHM worship, HELLRIPPER really has nailed the classic retro sounds from the underground 80s and extreme metal 90s without ever stepping over into the second wave anything. You could call this a first wave fuckfest if you will where all the earliest offerings of metal are happily getting all nasty together. Let’s not forget the Motörhead brash bravado that gives it that crust punk connection. Basically HELLRIPPER has cast his net and cast it wide and although WARLOCKS GRIM & WITHERED HAGS focuses on tamping down the raucous energetic unhinged antics of prior albums, McBain once again proves he’s a master of past master manipulation with tracks that sound as if they really did exist in the late 80s timeline only forgotten in some vault for the ensuing decades.

Graced with catchy melodic hooks, HELLRIPPER tames things down a bit but still keeps the speed metal furor roaring along. One thing is for sure and McBain is a riff monster, one that must have extracted some DNA samplings from some of the influences on board in order to craft this musical Frankenstein. Given that McBain was born in 1995 well after the majority of first wave of extreme metal had well given way to the next coming, his astute research has paid off well making WARLOCKS GRIM & WITHERED HAGS a nice throwback to the days when Slayer still had shock value and ripping lead guitar lines were still the biggest thing since sliced bread (was that ever a thing?). As much as i would like to love the heck out of this one, ultimately it’s sort of a one trick pony in many ways. Sure the tracks showcase a dab of this and a pinch of that but it fucks with my sensibilities as i’m always pulled back to another era and reminded of one other band or another.

It seems that HELLRIPPER and his ilk have become popular as retro metal entertains those who weren’t around the first time around. All of that is fine and dandy but honestly i’d rather just listen to the original masters in the first place than dabble in recycled tribute albums. So it’s a mixed bag for me with this sort of wayback machine revisited type of metal. Sure it’s competent, it’s even entertaining while i’m listening to it but at the same time it lacks that wanna come back and listen to the hell out of it that many of the classics offered. For those like me who want to see metal progress and relish in experiencing the new paths forged this one doesn’t scratch that itch for i can understand why many are attracted to the sounds of HELLRIPPER. But you always have to wonder if you REALLY like it or did the freaky goat on the cover simply cast a spell on you? Hmmm.

martindavey87 ‘Live At Madison Square Garden (2010)’, recorded July 12th 2010 at the “world’s most famous arena”, sees Dream Theater playing to their hometown crowd as the opening act for metal legends Iron Maiden. The fact that Dream Theater are a headline band themselves shows how much of a big gig this was for them, and so I can totally understand why they’d want to release this under their line of “Lost Not Forgotten” series.

Consisting of six tracks and clocking in at only 50 minutes, this is a relatively short affair as far as Dream Theater live albums go. The set list caters to the heavier side of their fanbase, which would make sense considering who they were opening for, although surely Maiden fans wouldn’t have cared that much. I’m sure most of them probably like Dream Theater anyway.

As for the recording itself… it’s okay, I guess. The sound is fine, the playing is flawless, although LaBrie’s vocals, as always, are a little strained live. Drummer Mike Portnoy randomly speaks a number of times mid-song, which shows us his enthusiasm and excitement, but probably irritated the hell out of his bandmates. Two months after this concert happened, he would do the unthinkable by handing in his notice and departing the band he helped form.

Overall, ‘Live At Madison Square Garden’ fits the bill perfectly for this line of releases. It’s a nice gem for collectors to own, and highlights a special moment in the bands history, but ultimately, after a couple of listens, it doesn’t really have that much replay value. OCD completionists, like me, will snap this up, regardless.

UMUR "My Enemies Look And Sound Like Me" is the fourth full-length studio album by Australian death metal/deathgrind act Werewolves. The album was released through Prosthetic Records in August 2023. It´s the successor to "From the Cave to the Grave" from June 2022. No lineup changes have taken place since the last album, or indeed since Werewolves formed in 2019, so the band still consists of the trio of drummer David Haley, guitarist Matt Wilcock, and lead vocalist/bassist Sam Bean.

Four albums in four years is quite unusual these days, but apparently Werewolves have opted for the old school approach of releasing new material every year. The only issue with that is that all their albums pretty much sound the same. The same death metal/deathgrind playing style, the same type of brutal, detailed, but also sterile sounding production values, and compositions which don´t stand out on the individual albums. You could take any song from this album and place it on one of the preceding releases and no one would notice.

So basically the material on "My Enemies Look And Sound Like Me" is more of the same. If you enjoyed the previous releases, you´re very likely to enjoy this album too, but if you´re like me and haven´t really been won over by Werewolves rather pedestrian take on the death metal/deathgrind genre, this album won´t change a thing for you.

As said it´s all decently composed, well performed, and professionally produced, but I miss gritt and some darkness to the whole thing. An example of the rather flat feeling I get when listening to this album, is the vocals. They are pretty standard death metal growling, and they arguably get the job done, but after one or two songs it becomes apparent that they are one-dimensional and delivered without much emotion or variation. It´s just the same song after song after song. They somewhat remind me of the Swedes in Coldworker, who also features a well known drummer from another band (in that case Nasum, in the case of Werewolves it´s Psycroptic).

So upon conclusion "My Enemies Look And Sound Like Me" is another decent quality death metal/deathgrind album from Werewolves that on the surface looks and sounds pretty good, but if you dig a little deeper lacks most of the things which make an album in this genre great. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

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

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

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

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

adg211288 It's a rare album review where I can still remember certain comments I made about it years after the fact, but that's the case for me with the previous album of Israel's Winterhorde, Maestro (2016). I remember the spiel of excitement I formed my review's introduction around, talking about how getting certain albums in my inbox from labels or promoters would lead to that album being given absolute priority to. Maestro was one such album and naturally Neptunian (2023), generated the same excitement. Make no mistake about Winterhorde: these guys are damn good. I also remember how I ended that review though, lamenting how it had been six years since Underwatermoon (2010) and hoping that it wouldn't take another six years before we heard a follow-up. Turns out it's taken seven. I guess some bands just aren't going to be as productive as others and as they have been releasing albums of such a high standard, it was okay.

It was okay...until Neptunian.

As I listened to the album for the first time, I felt my excitement gradually fading, replaced by shock, confusion and horror. What had happened to the band that made those amazing earlier albums? What had made them deliver THIS as their long awaited fourth studio album?

(Sighs deeply, trying to regain composure)

Okay, so Neptunian isn't a bad sounding release per se. But it's an extremely underwhelming one that seems to contain none of the kind of special character I've come to expect from Winterhorde's compositions that made particularly the Underwatermoon and Maestro albums such a joy to listen to. The progressive flair that defined those albums seemed watered down to the point of being swallowed by the ocean's tides, leaving a melodic/symphonic black metal album behind that, while far from terrible, just isn't that exciting to listen to.

If this album were from a new band releasing their debut and I heard it they might pass me by with a few lukewarm comments about potential, but this is a new album from Winterhorde. They're a band which had previously figuratively put my jaw firmly on the floor with their progressive take on melodic black metal. Twice. The expectations for such a band are higher, as is the standard I hold them to, which also makes the disappointment in this case so much worse. Coupled with the waiting time factor of seven years, this makes Neptunian one of those things that does not seem worth it no matter what angle I try to look at it from.

And my word I hate saying that about this band, I really do. I bloody love these guys. I meant what I said in my opener to this review that they are damn good. I own all three of their prior albums and while I don't give as much playtime to their debut Nebula (2006), both Underwatermoon and Maestro get spun regularly. Unfortunately Neptunian just doesn't hold a candle to them, despite repeated spins in hope that it's one of those albums that may not wow at first but improves with familiarity.

Sadly it was not.

UMUR "Rotten Bowel of Pestigore" is a compilation album by Finnish death metal act Pestigore. The compilation was released through Headsplit Records in April 2023. Pestigore formed in 1990 and released a string of demos (five to be exact) before disbanding in 1993. All material from the demos recorded between 1990-1993 have been compiled and re-released on "Rotten Bowel of Pestigore".

The contemporary early 90s Finnish scene spawned a couple of well known names like Amorphis, Demilich, Convulse, Xysma, Funebre, Sentenced...etc., but Pestigore is one of the lesser known acts from the era (and country). Possibly because they never managed to release anything on a label (not even a split or an EP), but after listening to all five demos featured on "Rotten Bowel of Pestigore" I think it has something to do with the quality of the output too. Starting your career with releasing three rehearsal demos, which all feature lo-fi sound qualities, and then following it up with a studio demo ("Twisted Perversions... Unbearable Delight" from March 1992), which features a sound production which is only a notch better than the sound productions of the three preceding rehearsal demos, and then ending with a two-track promo tape, which does feature a near professional sound production, but which completely loses the soul of the band´s music, is not a well functioning career plan.

There is a reason why Pestigore never got a label deal, and it´s not only the bad quality sound productions of their output, but it´s also the songwriting and the rather organic and loose musicianship, which makes for a sometimes chaotic listening experience. They simply sound like amateurs on waters way too deep for them to navigate in. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted. Not all forgotten old school death metal acts are forgotten gems...

UMUR "Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts" is the ninth full-length studio album by Us death metal act Autopsy. The album was released through Peaceville Records in October 2023. It´s the successor to "Morbidity Triumphant" from September 2022 and if you count the two Static Abyss albums released in 2022 and 2023, which also feature Autopsy lead vocalist/drummer Chris Reifert and Autopsy bassist Greg Wilkinson, some of the members of the band have been real busy in the last couple of years. It´s great to experience death metal veterans who still love what they do and who are dying to show the world what they have composed, and who don´t spend years and years between album releases. Autopsy have of course been guilty of just that in the past, but it looks like things have changed.

Stylistically there are few surprises on "Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts" if you´re familiar with the preceding releases from Autopsy. It´s raw, organic, and primal old school death metal with both death-doom metal parts and hardcore punk influences. The lyrics are as always gory and vile along with the image and cover artwork. When that is said I think "Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts" actually is slightly different from "Morbidity Triumphant". Maybe it´s the sound production which is a bit more clear sounding and not as bottom heavy and organic as the sound production on the predecessor. Whatever it is, it´s a good idea to try something a bit different when you have such a well established style as Autopsy do. At least that makes an album like "Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts" stand out a bit from the last couple of releases.

Other than that this is Autopsy exactly how they´ve always sounded and if you´re in the mood for some infested, gory, and old school death metal, look no further. Autopsy are one of the originators of this style, and there is a reason they are considered death metal legends. They understand the dynamics of a good old school death metal tune. The brutality, the gore, the impact of the death-doom sections, and the morbid leads and harmonies...all spiced up by Reifert´s depraved growling vocals, which sound as demented as ever. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Scorched" is the twenty-first full-length studio album by US, New York based thrash/heavy metal act Overkill. The album was released through Nuclear Blast in April 2023. It´s the successor to "The Wings Of War" from February 2019. Overkill ususally have 2-3 years between album releases (with a good portion of touring in between), but the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown made the writing and recording process for "Scorched" a little longer than usual.

Stylistically you won´t notice any difference though as "Scorched" sounds unmistakably like another post-"Ironbound" (2010) album release from Overkill. Hard edged, groove laden, and attitude loaded thrash metal with nods towards traditional heavy metal and speed metal. Lead vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth as always screams his lungs out with his raw sounding voice and snarling attitude while the band delivers a tight instrumental performance behind him.

The album opens with the title track, which features a lead guitar theme performed by Dave Links, which makes me think of AC/DC´s "Thunderstruck", and it´s definitely a standout track on the album. "Scorched" is otherwise not an album featuring many standout tracks, but it´s still a high quality album throughout and there are only a few tracks I´d say are close to the filler catagory, and those tracks are still good quality tracks, because of the generally high quality output of Overkill.

"Scorched" is well produced, featuring a clear, detailed, and powerful sounding production job, which suits the material well. Upon conclusion "Scorched" worst crime is probably that it sounds a lot like the last 5-6 albums from Overkill, but if you haven´t gotten used to the consistency (or if you put on the negative glasses...the stagnation) of the band´s sound by now, you probably never will. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.