Pathology are a death metal band from the US and this is their twelfth album.
2017’s Pathology, 2019’s Reborn to Kill, and 2021’s The Everlasting Plague all hit like trucks, with Pathology displaying an easy mastery of brutal death metal each time they erupted from the shadows to strike. This made me excited to experience the punishment that Unholy Descent had to offer. Continue reading “Pathology – Unholy Descent (Review)”
This is the second album from Canadian death metal band Atræ Bilis.
Following on from 2021’s Apexapien, Atræ Bilis have now returned with 40 minutes of new material. As enjoyable as that record was, Aumicide is something else. Continue reading “Atræ Bilis – Aumicide (Review)”
This is the tenth album from French death metallers Benighted.
I’ve enjoyed all of my encounters with Benighted so far, (Necrobreed, Dogs Always Bite Harder than Their Masters, Obscene Repressed, and live in 2016), so I knew I wanted to check out Ekbom. Running at a lean and mean 37 minutes, Ekbom is here to brutalise and destroy. Continue reading “Benighted – Ekbom (Review)”
This is the seventh album from UK death metallers Ingested.
So, if you’re a fan of deathcore-edged brutal death metal, then you must surely know of Ingested by now, (if not, acquaint yourself with The Level Above Human, Where Only Gods May Tread, Ashes Lie Still, and the rest). Ingested seem to be on a bit of a creative binge over the last few years, pumping out albums like nobody’s business, which brings us to the 45 minutes of heaviness that is The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams. Continue reading “Ingested – The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams (Review)”
This is the ninth album from Italian death metallers Hour of Penance.
I always enjoy a bit of Hour of Penance’s brutality. Devotion follows on from 2017’s Cast the First Stone and 2019’s Misotheism, delivering 38 minutes of textured death metal destruction. Continue reading “Hour of Penance – Devotion (Review)”
This is the fourth album from US death metal band Brodequin.
Harbinger of Woe contains 32 minutes of furious brutal death metal. It’s the first album since 2004’s merciless Methods of Execution, and Brodequin are back to make up for lost time. Continue reading “Brodequin – Harbinger of Woe (Review)”
Welcome to my annual attempt to make sense of the ridiculous amount of good metal albums out there, awaiting discovery by intrepid metal explorers.
2023’s best of list has been one of the more difficult ones to put together, placing-wise, which is one of the reasons that I’m posting it later than I usually do. Even more so than normal many of the slots are interchangeable, and I especially struggled with positions two-nine – if such a thing were possible, they all deserve to be higher! In the end I decided to stop overthinking it and go with my gut, but the usual caveat of these lists being very subjective and subject to change depending on mood, feelings, etc. is larger than normal here.
There are some notable acts missing form the below. Not because they’re not worthy of inclusion, but because there are only so many spaces to be had. In fact, I almost ended up limiting this list to 20, rather than the now-customary 30, as I found it really difficult to know who to include and who not to. In the end I went with the standard 30 so that I could promote a few extra bands, as they absolutely all deserve it.
As for the top position, I wasn’t expecting it to be filled by a band I’d never heard before, playing a style that I don’t listen to as much as I used to. However, I suppose after last year, I shouldn’t have been too surprised.
I do hope you enjoy this list and find some new music to obsess over. Like always, thanks for your support if you have ever visited this site before, and here’s to a great 2024 for as many of us as possible. Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2023”
This is the second album from Australian death metal band Revulsed.
Cerebral Contamination is a 36-minute assault of brutal riffs, blasting technical savagery, and guttural vocals. Yes, Revulsed play brutal death metal, and they’re here to rip the skull out of your head by the eye sockets. Continue reading “Revulsed – Cerebral Contamination (Review)”
This is the third album from US death metallers Afterbirth.
Following on from 2020’s Four Dimensional Flesh, In But Not Of contains 36 minutes of devastating brutality that sounds like it was spawned in another dimension. Continue reading “Afterbirth – In But Not Of (Review)”
This is the third album from Indian death metallers Gutslit.
Oh wow, has it really been six years since the crushing Amputheatre? Apparently so. Nevertheless, Gutslit have finally returned to the death metal killing arenas, armed with 30 minutes of gruesome new material in the spiked, brutal shape of Carnal. Continue reading “Gutslit – Carnal (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 