Crypt Rot are a death metal band and Cringer are a crossover thrash band, both are from the US and they have teamed up for this split release.
Kicking us off with 11 minutes of very enjoyable Swedish-styled death metal is Crypt Rot. Continue reading
Orphaned Land are a progressive folk metal band from Israel and this is their sixth album.
Orphaned Land play music that’s inspired and influenced by Middle Eastern melodies and ideas. These elements are skilfully woven into the band’s progressive metal in natural, effortless ways, resulting in characterful and Continue reading
Groke’s Clan are a Finnish metal band and this is their debut EP.
This is an interesting and enjoyable release. Blending various different heavy genres into one rocking whole, Vicious Circles showcases a band that are comfortable in their own skin and ready to bring the riffs wherever necessary. Continue reading
Dawn of Disease are a death metal band and this is their fourth album.
I wasn’t expecting a new Dawn of Disease album so soon after last year’s enjoyable Worship the Grave, but I’m certainly not complaining about it. Continue reading
The Lurking Fear are a death metal band from Sweden and this is their debut album.
Featuring members of God Macabre, Skitsystem, Disfear, and At the Gates, here’s a band comprised of people that know a thing or two about extreme music. Continue reading
From the Shores are an Italian melodic death metal band. This is their debut album.
Are you in the market for some fast, melodic, cutting death metal? Well look no further! Continue reading
Zeit are an Italian hardcore band and this is their latest EP.
It seems like only yesterday that 2015’s The World Is Nothing tore into the world with their brand of dissonant, violent Hardcore. The band are now back with a new EP, consisting of three originals and an At the Gates cover. It’s 11 minutes of intensity. Continue reading
Nuisible are a blackened hardcore band from France. This is their debut album.
Inter Feces et Urinam Nascimur sort of sounds like what would happen if Darkthrone embraced a love of Scandinavian d-beat and produced one massively pissed off record. Add in some elements of crusty death metal and grindcore and you have 23 minutes of red-hot anger. Continue reading
This is the début album from Spinebreaker, a Death Metal band from the US.
This is ugly Old-School Death Metal born bloody and ragged from the Hardcore scene. This means that the band combine the purity of their Death Metal heritage with the fire and energy of their Hardcore bloodline.
My, what a sound they have! Boasting a Swedish Death Metal guitar tone that their spiritual forefathers would be proud of, this is presented in a filthed-up package that fuses the feel of the era and style with a Hardcore edge and a touch of At the Gates and Carcass in the vocal department.
The end result is a savage demonstration of the fact that A) you don’t need to be Swedish to wield a chainsaw and B) there’s life in Old-School Swedish Death Metal yet; it’s not necessary for a band to simply rehash past glories.
Spinebreaker manage to successfully inject vitality and vibrancy into a rather stale, (but still very enjoyable), sub-genre. The inclusion of a Hardcore edge to some of the riffs adds a blood-pumping energy and the harsh screaming growls are a thing of gory beauty.
Whether ripping out giant grooves or pounding heaviness, Spinebreaker make everything sound dark, nightmarish and nasty, just as it should be. The spectre of At the Gates looms over the faster sections, (prompted for me by the vocals, but bleeding into the guitars too), and it’s a joy to hear this encapsulated by such a dirty Swedish delivery.
A very enjoyable 38 minutes.
This is the début album by Swedish Metal band Aktaion.
This is sharp Melodic Metal that combines high-energy aggressive Melodic Death Metal with more restrained and emotive choruses. Elements of Thrash and Progressive Metal also raise their heads, (only to bang them all the harder). Continue reading
