Let’s cast our eyes over some of my favourite metal releases from August 2018…
We’ll start with the sublime Slow Motion Death Sequence by Manes. Exquisitely performed and highly emotive, this is an album that’s rich in multiple ways, bursting at the seams with creativity and skilful delivery. This could easily be your new favourite album to obsess over.
Blunt and ugly, Crawl’s debut album Rituals is quite a different beast than that of Manes’ album above, but hugely destructively enjoyable nonetheless. Crushing crusty Swedish death metal is rarely as effective and as satisfying as this is.
Staying with the Swedish death metal theme for a moment, we turn to Chapel of Abhorrence by Carnation. Boasting a formidable combination of thunderous riffs and macabre atmospheres, this is old-school death metal played with class and obvious love.
Rift by Forming the Void was a huge revelation in August. I mean, I expected it to be good, but not as good as this. Crammed with damn fine songwriting, colossal riffs, and striking, characterful vocals, Rift is a compelling and thoroughly engaging listen.
If aggressive thrash metal is your bag, then August was good month for you, with Attraction to Annihilation by Maligner raising its violent head. Deeply immersed in old-school thrash, and dipped in equally vintage death metal, Attraction to Annihilation is 30 minutes of utter savagery and visceral attitude.
It’s time to take a look at Mantar’s latest slab of blackened nastiness – The Modern Art of Setting Ablaze. Mixing black metal rawness, doom groove, punk violence, and hard rock charisma, Mantar’s new album is a surefire winner, full of catchy aggression and meaningful darkness.
Sometimes you just want a dose of pure brutality, and for moments like that you have Slaughter Monolith by Abhorrent Deformity. Now here’s a heavy band doing heavy things. Delivering a comprehensively bloody rampage across its playing time, Slaughter Monolith is full of belligerent personality and punishing songs.
Suspended in Reflections by Ancestors is a beautiful piece of work. Highly emotive and wonderfully crafted, this is a well-rounded collection of songs that are as resplendently affecting as they are confidently delivered. Suspended in Reflections is just gorgeous.
From the beautiful, to the horrifically nasty and malformed, Leeched’s violent hardcore assault on You Took the Sun When You Left is a brutal and unflinching look at the underbelly of aggressive music. Punk, crust, grind, and powerviolence collide in repeated explosions of energetic chaos, and this is a massively enjoyable debut release.
We’ll end with another hardcore assault in the shape of Only Self by Jesus Piece. Heavy, complex, and experimentally deep, Only Self is the type of album that you find yourself returning to again and again, almost without even realising it at first. Play the music and get involved. Harsh and delightful.
Wonderbox Metal 