This is the third album from US death metal band Aseitas.
2020’s False Peace was a mammoth album, brimming with ideas, boasting 11 tracks, and lasting 72 minutes. On Eden Trough Aseitas trim down to a more manageable 5 tracks and a much-shorter 30 minutes, leading me to wonder if their experimental death metal is still as multifaceted and layered as it was previously? Continue reading “Aseitas – Eden Trough (Review)”
Devourer are a black/death metal band from Sweden and this is their fifth album.
Devourer immediately struck a chord with me on their 2017 album Across the Empty Plains. Since then, they have also produced 2019’s Dawn of Extinction and 2022’s Raptus, both quality records that continued to showcase Devourer as a force to be reckoned with. The band are now back with The Wicked Ones, and sound more focused than ever. Continue reading “Devourer – The Wicked Ones (Review)”
This is the third album from US death metallers Replicant.
Following on from 2021’s Malignant Reality comes the 44-minute Infinite Mortality. Before diving into this new record, take a moment to prepare yourself, as this is a beast of an album. I liked Malignant Reality, but it didn’t stand out to me the way that Infinite Mortality does. Continue reading “Replicant – Infinite Mortality (Review)”
This is the third album from Convulsing, a solo death metal band from Australia.
I haven’t caught up with Convulsing since their immense 2017 split with Siberian Hell Sounds, so we’re well overdue. Perdurance lasts 48 minutes, (56 with the bonus Porcupine Tree cover), and is a monster of avant-garde death metal. Continue reading “Convulsing – Perdurance (Review)”
This is the second album from international death metal band Zvylpwkua.
Featuring a member of Feral Lord and Slog, The Outlying Entities is an avant-garde death metal monster. Beware those that enter into its sphere of awareness, as this is not an album to approach lightly. Continue reading “Zvylpwkua – The Outlying Entities (Review)”
This is the fourth album from Blindfolded and Led to the Woods, a death metal band from New Zealand.
Blindfolded and Led to the Woods play a modern form of death metal that combines progressive, technical, and avant-garde elements together into a savagely impactful package. Rejecting Obliteration is 45 minutes of surprisingly rich extremity. Continue reading “Blindfolded and Led to the Woods – Rejecting Obliteration (Review)”
Asystole are a death metal band from the US and this is their debut album.
Siren to Blight contains 29 minutes of death metal that the promo blurb says is influenced by bands such as Gorguts, Virus, Krallice, Cryptopsy, and Anata. Continue reading “Asystole – Siren to Blight (Review)”
Ignominy are from Canada and play death metal. This is their debut album.
Ignominy are not a standard death metal act, and Imminent Collapse is not your run-of-the-mill death metal album. Rooted in the dissonant style, theirs is an avant-garde expression of dissodeath that incorporates blackened textures, technical flourishes, chaotic intensity, and atmospheric proclivities. Continue reading “Ignominy – Imminent Collapse (Review)”
So here we are again. It’s December, and year end lists are flying around like shrapnel. Due to the inherent subjectivity of music it’s always interesting to see what people have made of the preceding year.
For me, I made a concerted effort to drag myself away from the depths of black metal’s always-enticing abyss to spend some more time with other genres and styles that I also love. I said something similar last year, but I feel this year I was more successful in achieving that end. Of course, I still love black metal, still listen to it constantly, and you’ll still find some great examples of the blackened arts in the list below.
2022 was a strong year for death metal for me, and I enjoyed more death metal bands in a deeper way than I have done for some time. In every year there are standout releases, but I felt this year the standard was raised throughout. Possibly I was simply more receptive to it. Either way, you’ll find more death metal-related acts, and in higher spots, in this selection than you’ll have seen in my lists for a while.
As with last year, grindcore was largely absent from my year, disappointingly, as was hardcore. Additionally, the sort of lengthy, ugly, abyssal doom that I love so much has been largely lacking too. It’s all probably out there somewhere, but I didn’t catch it.
The top two spots this year are both claimed by albums/bands/styles that I simply could not have predicted would be at the pinnacle of my list by the year’s end, (one of the bands I hadn’t even heard of in January). I hope you enjoy these excellent records even half as much as I do.
Lastly I just want to say a big thank you to any and all that might read this site. It’s only a small endeavour, and I do it purely for the love of all things METAL and to support bands that I enjoy in whatever minor way I can, but if this is you, a heartfelt thank you for enduring my scribblings.
On to it! Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2022”
Veilburner are a black/death metal band from the US and this is their sixth album.
I last reviewed Veilburner back in 2016 with their third album The Obscene Rite, so it’s about time that I did another one of their releases the justice it deserves by taking a closer look at their new material on VLBRNR. Continue reading “Veilburner – VLBRNR (Review)”
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