Patristic – Catechesis (Review)

Patristic - CatechesisThis is the debut album from Italian blackened death metal band Patristic.

Brought to us by current/ex-members of Frostmoon Eclipse, Hideous Divinity, Hour of Penance, and Liber NullCatechesis contains 41 minutes of intensity and violent moodbuilding. Continue reading “Patristic – Catechesis (Review)”

Outergods – Dethroned & Devoured (Review)

Outergods - Dethroned & DevouredThis is the second album from UK extreme metallers Outergods.

Outergods play a hybrid style that mixes black, death, and grind influences into a 45-minute record of brutal intensity. The band’s Bandcamp page recommends this for At The Gates, Anaal Nathrakh, Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal, and Strapping Young Lad, which should give you a good starting point for Dethroned & Devoured. Continue reading “Outergods – Dethroned & Devoured (Review)”

Fallujah – Xenotaph (Review)

Fallujah - XenotaphThis is the fifth album from US death metal band Fallujah.

Fallujah have a storied list of releases at this point, (The Flesh PrevailsDreamlessUndying LightEmpyrean), all worth getting your teeth into. After the slight dip in quality that was Undying Light, Fallujah returned very strong with Empyrean. All of which means I have been interested to see what the 42-minute Xenotaph brings us this time around. Continue reading “Fallujah – Xenotaph (Review)”

Sacred Noose – Vanishing Spires (Review)

Sacred Noose - Vanishing SpiresThis is the debut album by Sacred Noose, a black/death metal band from Northern Ireland.

Vanishing Spires offers up a 31-minute concoction of poisonous black, death, and doom metal, all poured into a think tar-like substance of misery, pestilence, and woe. Sacred Noose are like a shroud of horror and violence hiding a deeper malevolence that just wants everything to decay and wither away.

Continue reading “Sacred Noose – Vanishing Spires (Review)”

Rivers of Nihil – Rivers of Nihil (Review)

Rivers of Nihil - Rivers of NihilThis is the fifth album from US death metal band Rivers of Nihil.

Ah, the eponymously titled album, so far into a band’s career always gives me pause. Does it mark a career-best record, a reinvention, or a lack of identity? The album even carries a song called Rivers of Nihil. What’s going on here then? Which way will the band go with this? Continue reading “Rivers of Nihil – Rivers of Nihil (Review)”

Unmerciful – Devouring Darkness (Review)

Unmerciful - Devouring DarknessUnmerciful are a US death metal band and this is their fourth album.

It’s not too often a new Unmerciful album rolls around, but when it does, (2016’s Ravenous Impulse, 2020’s Wrath Encompassed), it’s always a tasty treat of death metal. Devouring Darkness is a 38-minute monster – ten tracks of unrelenting brutality, (which includes an Origin cover). Continue reading “Unmerciful – Devouring Darkness (Review)”

Escarnium – Inexorable Entropy (Review)

Escarnium - Inexorable EntropyThis is the fourth album from Brazilian death metallers Escarnium.

Inexorable Entropy contains 31 minutes of ferocious death metal brutality. Escarnium’s furious assault is a satisfying and enjoyable one. Continue reading “Escarnium – Inexorable Entropy (Review)”

Hexekration Rites – Misanthropic Path of Carnal Deliverance (Review)

Hexekration Rites - Misanthropic Path of Carnal DeliveranceThis is the debut album from French blackened death metal band Hexekration Rites.

Brought to us by an ex-member of Azziard, Hexekration Rites play a darkly brutal mix of black and death metal. Misanthropic Path of Carnal Deliverance is a 44-minute record that will destroy everything around you quite convincingly. Continue reading “Hexekration Rites – Misanthropic Path of Carnal Deliverance (Review)”

Blood Monolith – The Calling of Fire (Review)

Blood Monolith - The Calling of FireThis is the debut album from US death metal band Blood Monolith.

The Call of Fire contains 28 minutes of death metal, and is brought to us by current/ex-members of Genocide Pact, Nails, Ulthar, Undeath, and Vastum. Blood Monolith are ruthlessly savage, delivering a record that’s murderously good. Continue reading “Blood Monolith – The Calling of Fire (Review)”

Jade – Mysteries of a Flowery Dream (Review)

Jade - Mysteries of a Flowery DreamThis is the second album from international death metal band Jade.

As a subgenre, atmospheric death metal never really took off like its black metal counterpart did. However, if you want a good example of what it might look like, then look no further than Jade. Making a good impression with 2022’s The Pacification of Death, and cementing this with last year’s split with Sanctuarium, the 43-minute Mysteries of a Flowery Dream is one I’ve been looking forward to. Continue reading “Jade – Mysteries of a Flowery Dream (Review)”