Broken Hope – Wonderbox Metal

Retching – Charming the Decomposed (Review)

This is the debut album from US death metal band Retching.

What is this rotten bag of offal that has been unceremoniously stuffed through my letterbox? Oh, there’s a note, written in something quite unwholesome that I’d rather not look too closely at. It says – Retching. Then, beneath – Charming the Decomposed. Sounds nasty. Okay, I’d better hold my gag reflex and examine this pile of filth before it gets even more disgusting and I never get the stains out. Continue reading “Retching – Charming the Decomposed (Review)”

Malformed – Confinement of Flesh (Review)

Malformed are a death metal band from Finland and this is their debut album.

Confinement of Flesh contains 33 minutes of old-school death metal played in the USDM style and mixed with Finnish darkness. Malformed know their way around a killing field, and this album is very easy to like if you’re a fan of classic death metal. Continue reading “Malformed – Confinement of Flesh (Review)”

Earthburner – Permanent Dawn (Review)

This is the debut album from US grindcore band Earthburner.

Brought to us by members of The Atlas Moth, Broken Hope, Canyon of the Skull, Gloryhole Guillotine, and Sanguisugabogg, (and featuring guests from Immolation and Napalm Death), Earthburner deliver a fearsome deathgrind assault. Permanent Dawn is 21 minutes of grinding aggression that unexpectedly culminates in a Corrosion of Conformity cover. Continue reading “Earthburner – Permanent Dawn (Review)”

Coffin Rot – Dreams of the Disturbed (Review)

This is the second album from US death metallers Coffin Rot.

2018’s Coffin Rot demo promised much, and then 2019’s A Monument to the Dead delivered. Well, it’s been five long years since then – has Dreams of the Disturbed been worth the wait? Continue reading “Coffin Rot – Dreams of the Disturbed (Review)”

Stabbing – Extirpated Mortal Process (Review)

This is the debut album from US death metallers Stabbing.

Here we have something particularly brutal. Stabbing play death metal with lashings of cruelty and bloody punishment. Across 33 minutes Extirpated Mortal Process lays waste with its gruesome brutality. Continue reading “Stabbing – Extirpated Mortal Process (Review)”

Black Cross Hotel – Hex (Review)

This is the debut album from Black Cross Hotel, an industrial band from the US.

Hex initially caught my eye due to Black Cross Hotel containing a member of Stabbing Westward. On closer inspection it seems there are also members of The Atlas Moth, Corrections House, Minsk, and Broken Hope in the band, all of which attracted me further. All very intriguing. However, Continue reading “Black Cross Hotel – Hex (Review)”

Autophagy – Bacteriophage (Review)

This is the debut album from US death metallers Autophagy.

Featuring an ex-member of Ritual Necromancy and Sempiternal Dusk, Bacteriophage contains 34 minutes of putrefying underground death metal. Continue reading “Autophagy – Bacteriophage (Review)”

Hell on Earth Tour – Cattle Decapitation/Broken Hope/Hideous Divinity/Gloryhole Guillotine – Manchester Rebellion, 04/09/17 (Live Review)

It’s not often you get to see a brutal death metal lineup like this, so I was very pleased to be able to catch this tour. Continue reading “Hell on Earth Tour – Cattle Decapitation/Broken Hope/Hideous Divinity/Gloryhole Guillotine – Manchester Rebellion, 04/09/17 (Live Review)”

Broken Hope – Mutilated and Assimilated (Review)

Broken Hope are a US death metal band and this is their seventh album.

Veteran death metallers Broken Hope are unleashed on the world once more. Hell yeah! I’ve always had a soft spot for Broken Hope, and Mutilated and Assimilated has just brutally smashed that soft spot so that it’s now just a gory mess. Continue reading “Broken Hope – Mutilated and Assimilated (Review)”

Bloodscribe – Prologue to the Apocalypse (Review)

Bloodscribe are from the US and this is their début album. They play Death Metal.

This is Brutal Death Metal that’s short, nasty, violent and infectious. At its core it has a purity of intent that’s a joy to hear.

The songs are a hearty mix of blast, chug and groove that’s guaranteed to get the blood pumping and the body slamming.

There are plenty of tasty riffs here as well as some squeals, breakdowns, and chug-fests. The band remind me of the older, Suffocation/Broken Hope style of Death Metal and they play it well.

At only 25 minutes in length the band get in, make a gloriously noisy mess and then exit again swiftly.

Bloodscribe have a hideously warm production that reeks of decaying organic matter whilst retaining a powerful presence.

The vocals are guttural delights; sickeningly deep without descending into ridiculous pignoise territory.

A very enjoyable way to spend almost half an hour. Gotta love groovy, heavy Death Metal.