This is the fifth album from Finnish death/doom band Hooded Menace.
Whenever I have a craving for death/doom, Hooded Menace can always be relied upon to satisfy it. 2015’s Darkness Drips Forth was a very enjoyable trip into Hooded Menace’s dark world, and now it’s time to revisit it as they unleash 42 minutes of new material. Continue reading
This is the fourth album from Finnish death metal band Decaying.
Following on from 2014’s One to Conquer, Decaying continue their eternal warfare on this newest release with a further 39 minutes of battle hymns. Continue reading
Encrypted are a German death metal band and this is their debut EP.
This is old-school death metal that mixes influences from both the Scandinavian and US scenes. Think a cross between Asphyx and Obituary for an easy starting point. Continue reading
Old Chapel are a death metal band from Russia. This is their second album.
Old Chapel play old-school death metal with a healthy doom influence. Continue reading
This is the second album from Spanish death metallers Necroven.
Necroven worship at the altar of old-school death metal and serve up Primordial Subjugation with a visceral assault on the senses. Aggressive 90s death metal styles are smashed together at high speed to create 36 minutes of music that’s a joyful ride through everything dark, macabre and brutal. Continue reading
Hailing from The Netherlands, this is the ninth album from legendary death metallers Asphyx.
Asphyx are a well-known band for a reason and new material from them is always welcome.
Incoming Death contains 48 minutes of colossal death metal, with huge riffs and drums that drop like bombs.
War-themed and crushingly heavy, this is an album that sweeps you away as soon as you start playing it. Sure, there are Continue reading
This is the third album from German Death Metallers Deathrite.
This is Old-School/Classic Death Metal that’s filthy and dirty as Hell. It also has a poisonous mixture of both Doom and Hardcore influences pulsating through its infected blood.
Yes, this is an interesting mixture of different types of extremity all wrapped up in a Death Metal giftbox. There’s an air of the Swedish style to their attack, as well as a whiff of a chainsaw in their sound; there’s a Doomy Asphyx/Incantation vibe going on; there’s a Hardcore/Grindcore energy à la Nasum; and there’s plenty of balls-ahead Death Metal fun for all of the family!
The songs are heavy and nasty, with plenty of bite and a substantial presence. This is a compact little album lasting 35 minutes that doesn’t outstay its welcome and is in fact the kind of thing you’ll find yourself playing again almost straight away.
The singer has a throaty growl that’s malignant and rabid. It complements the aggressiveness of the music perfectly.
This is a top quality album full of decent Metal tunes and plenty of big riffs, with everything you see and hear being covered in filth, of course.
Highly recommended.
This is the third album from Greek Death Metal band Soulskinner.
Soulskinner play Old-School Death Metal with plenty of heaviness and atmosphere.
Very early on the band establish that they are extremely proficient at recreating that raw, elemental feeling that you used to get when you were first getting into Death Metal and you were discovering new things all of the time; Soulskinner delve back into that bygone era when Death Metal was young and vibrant and it’s a joy to hear it.
The album is aptly named as it seems as if the band have discovered a crypt of ancient Death Metal know-how and the songs here strike an immediate chord with the listener. This is primal, atavistic Death Metal at its best, recalling the very early days of bands like Bolt Thrower, Entombed, Gorefest, Grave, Hypocrisy, Septic Flesh, Asphyx, etc.
The songs are full of graveyard atmosphere, rotting brutality and ancient intelligence. Quality riffs are thrown around like they’re going out of fashion and the level of songwriting skill is through the roof.
I love the small, but important, little details they add in. Whether this is a riff here, a drum fill there, a small piano part here, a malevolent melody there…it all adds up and these songs are just great.
This is a exceptional collection of songs. Fantastic riffs and occult melodies combine to create atmospherically brutal tracks of classic Death Metal.
As is fitting for a band like this, the vocals are flawless; deep, guttural, cavernous growls that sound inhuman and timeless.
It’s very easy to get bored of Old-School bands who just want to relive the past but add nothing to it. Soulskinner are different though, as they seem more like forgotten relics from a time gone past that have recently been unearthed to spread their plague anew. It may be old and rotten but it’s still as fresh as the dawn of the scene.
A very highly recommended listen. Soulskinner will rekindle your love of probably the first Extreme Metal genre you ever got into.
The latest Megascavenger album, (a project of Rogga Johansson), contains quite the list of guest vocalists – just have a look at the line up, (taken from the promo blurb) –
1. At The Plateaus Of Leng (Vocals by DAVE INGRAM of Bolt Thrower/Benediction)
2. The Festered Earth (Vocals by KAM LEE of Massacre)
3. And Then The Death Sets In (Vocals by AAD KLOOSTERWAARD of Sinister)
4. The Mucus Man (Vocals by MARTIN VAN DRUNEN of Asphyx/Hail of Bullets)
5. Like Comets Burn The Ether (Vocals by DAVE ROTTEN of Avulsed)
6. When Death Kills The Silence (Vocals by FELIX STASS of Crematory)
7. The Hand Of Bereavment (Vocals by ILKKA JARVENPÄÄ of National Napalm Syndicate)
8. Back To The Ancient (Vocals by BRYNJAR HELGETUN of Crypticus)
9. Night Of The Grand Obscenity (Vocals by ROGGA JOHANSSON)
If that’s not enough to get expectations running high I don’t know what is.
This album is full of melodic Old-School Death Metal goodness, but also a few unexpected turns such as the clean vocals/keyboard side of The Festered Earth, or the cleans of The Hand of Bereavement. Variety is a good thing however and these little flourishes and touches just enhance the album as a whole.
At the Plateaus of Leng is crushing and without mercy, stomping and stamping on all who oppose. But more than brutality these songs are surprisingly melodic and succeed well in hooking the listener. The tracks march along easily enough, propelled by the mid-paced barrage of the drums and carried aloft by the tuneful guitars. Each song is well-written, being identifiable from the last and not just because of the different vocals. This is an album of songs rather than just a collection of tracks, and there are catchy moments in great supply.
All of the vocalists do a sterling job and add their own personality and character into each of the compositions. Each song may have a different vocalist but the album flows nicely and doesn’t sound disjointed or like a compilation album, even when they veer into more Heavy Metal territory with clean singing it still holds together well as a package.
A very accomplished release, chock full of classic Death Metal songs, each one as enjoyable as the last.
