Gravewards – Ruinous Ensoulment (Review)

GravewardsThis is the debut album from Gravewards, a Greek death metal band.

I have fond recollections of 2017’s Subconscious Lobotomy, so was pleased to see this band’s debut album appear. It’s 43 minutes of old-school death metal that’s influenced by the death metal greats from the 90s, while Continue reading “Gravewards – Ruinous Ensoulment (Review)”

Mutilate – Tormentium (Review)

MutilateMutilate are a death metal band from the US and this is their debut album.

After enjoying All Life Ends so much I simply had to hear Tormentium. Another 38 minutes of old-school death metal that sounds so authentically 80s it could have been buried in a tomb until now? Count me in. Continue reading “Mutilate – Tormentium (Review)”

Mouth of Sauron – Hearken the Echo of Music (Review)

Mouth of SauronThis is the debut album from US death metallers Mouth of Sauron.

Hearken the Echo of Music contains 39 minutes of music, and exists at the nexus of where brutal, technical, and progressive death metal collide. Continue reading “Mouth of Sauron – Hearken the Echo of Music (Review)”

Obscura – Diluvium (Review)

ObscuraObscura are a progressive/technical death metal band from Germany and this is their fifth album.

As I’ve said frequently in the past, I like an album that feels like a journey, and this is definitely one such album. With a depth of songwriting and skill that many bands aspire to and few achieve, Diluvium is a masterclass in what a progressive/technical death metal band can achieve. Continue reading “Obscura – Diluvium (Review)”

Depths of Hatred – Bloodguilt (Review)

Depths of HatredDepths of Hatred are a Canadian death metal band and this is their latest EP.

Here we have 22 minutes of Depths of Hatred’s brand of punishing intensity. Mixing together multiple strains of death metal with some decent character and a professional recording, the band’s modern attack is easy to recommend. Continue reading “Depths of Hatred – Bloodguilt (Review)”

Jungle Rot – Jungle Rot (Review)

Jungle RotThis is the tenth album from US death metal veterans Jungle Rot.

Although Jungle Rot aren’t a band I’m intimately familiar with, I do know, (and enjoy), some of their previous work, so it’s with great interest that I listen to this self-titled album as it’s a bit different from what I’ve heard from the band before. Continue reading “Jungle Rot – Jungle Rot (Review)”

Lelahell – Alif (Review)

LelahellThis is the second album from Algerian death metallers Lelahell.

Lelahell’s 2014 debut album Al Insane…The (Re)birth of Abderrahmane was a brutal collection of tracks with some exotic flourishes included to spice things up; not only an enjoyable album, but a striking and memorable one too. Continue reading “Lelahell – Alif (Review)”

Abhorrent Deformity – Slaughter Monolith (Review)

Abhorrent DeformityAbhorrent Deformity are a death metal band from the US and this is their second album.

Abhorrent Deformity deal in brutal death metal. The follow up to 2015’s Entity of Malevolence, Slaughter Monolith continues its bloody, violent rampage through the death metal suburbs, taking no prisoners and sparing no civilians. Continue reading “Abhorrent Deformity – Slaughter Monolith (Review)”

Crawl – Rituals (Review)

CrawlThis is the debut album from Swedish death metallers Crawl.

Four things made me quite excited to hear this album, even before I really knew too much about it. The first is that it’s coming out on the always reliable Transcending Obscurity Records, (who have been especially Continue reading “Crawl – Rituals (Review)”

Deus Vermin – Monument to Decay (Review)

Deus VerminDeus Vermin are a blackened death metal band and this is their debut EP.

Featuring a member of atmospheric black metallers Hryre, Monument to Decay is a far more brutal and ugly proposition than that very enjoyable project. Different it may be, but equally compelling in its own rotten, foul way. Continue reading “Deus Vermin – Monument to Decay (Review)”