This is the latest EP by Mexican death metal band Question.
I was suitably impressed with Question’s 2014 debut album Doomed Passages, so it’s good to have some new material from them now.
Doomed Passages was an album that had its own Continue reading “Question – Gnosis Primordial (Review)”
This is the debut album from Australian instrumental metal band Vipassi.
Śūnyatā is 30 minutes of instrumental music that combines elements of progressive, technical and death metal together to form an engaging and thoughtful listening experience.
Atheist, Cynic and Death are the Continue reading “Vipassi – Śūnyatā (Review)”
This is the debut album by Cryptic Realms, a death metal band with members from various countries.
Featuring the singer of Abyssus, (one of my favourites), I was keen to see what Cryptic Realms had to offer.
Here we have classic, old-school death metal, played with a purity of intent and grim authenticity. Taking cues from Continue reading “Cryptic Realms – Enraptured by Horror (Review)”
Azooma are a death metal band from Iran. This is their debut album.
This is progressive death metal that sees the band upping their game from their already quite impressive debut release A Hymn of a Vicious Monster. The Act of Eye continues and refines their style, mixing Opeth and Death with elements of more modern bands such as Obscura, Gorod and Gorguts. Continue reading “Azooma – The Act of Eye (Review)”
The End are a death metal band from the US. This is their debut EP.
Featuring ex-members of Massacre and Death, this is 13 minutes of old-school Floridian death metal that sees the band take their Death/Massacre backgrounds and use them to craft a brutal assault that also takes more current influences into account. Continue reading “The End – Age of Apocalypse (Review)”
This is the debut album from US death metal band Blood Incantation.
Blood Incantation play death metal with plenty of atmosphere and technical skill. This is a band who have gazed towards the night sky, saw the vast darkness, and pay homage to that empty malevolence via the medium of underground music that’s less restricted and more expansive than your average death metal band. Continue reading “Blood Incantation – Starspawn (Review)”
Denominate are from Finland and play death metal. This is their debut album.
Here we have 43 minutes of progressive/technical death metal. Take some Carcass/Death influences and mix with something like Vital Remains…are you interested yet? You should be…
Denominate have a decent production that lends them a satisfying sound. The music itself is skilfully played with no lack of talent. Continue reading “Denominate – Those Who Beheld the End (Review)”
Gruesome are a Death Metal band from the US. This is their latest EP.
Gruesome are a supergroup of sorts, made up of members who have a large amount of extreme metal experience and count many different bands as their current and ex-projects, including Exhumed, Possessed and Malevolent Creation.
After the massively enjoyable slab of Death-worship that was Savage Land, Gruesome return with Continue reading “Gruesome – Dimensions of Horror (Review)”
Job for a Cowboy are a US Death Metal band and this is their fourth album.
On this release Job for a Cowboy have refined their Death Metal further, adding a progressive sheen to their technical assault. Ambitious and bold, this is a game-changing release for the band in many ways, demonstrating that they are willing to do what it takes to reinvent themselves on their own terms.
The solid and modern Death Metal core of the band remains, but on Sun Eater this is complemented by additional ideas and different flourishes to what they have tried before, including nicely wandering basslines and progressive Metal explorations that truly flesh out their sound more than in the past. On Sun Eater it seems they have really pushed the envelope with their experimentation.
It’s really good to see a band that are not content to stay the same with every release; while still retaining their own identity the band have moved forwards with their style and embraced a more Death/Cynic aspect in addition to what they have previously done. This enhanced songwriting is apparent throughout this album.
The songs are complex, varied, layered and have a lot going on. Entwined melodies and eccentric grooves create all manner of intriguing soundscapes. The bass, which is always something I love to hear, is a major player in the band’s updated sound.
Note should also be made of their singer. Although he’s always had a charismatic growl, his performance on Sun Eater is probably his most diverse and enjoyable yet, with his growls and screams being flawlessly delivered and well-judged. His engaging vocal rhythms remain intact, even though the music has morphed and mutated around them.
Due to the above, Sun Eater offers less instant gratification than its predecessors, but repeated spins shows this to be a positive thing as the album grows on you like a plague, (in a good way).
Having successfully fully transitioned to this new progressive Death Metal style, this album is hugely impressive.
For fans of Obscura, Gorguts and the like, this is damn near essential.
Cult of Lilith are a Death Metal band from Iceland. This is their début EP.
Cult of Lilith play their Death Metal with muscularity, power and no little technical flair. Their style combines influences from both classic Death Metal and the more modern variants; this has equal respect for Death as it does The Faceless.
Melodic influences raise their heads in places, done in a thoroughly modern style, (not a million miles away from that of The Faceless). There’s even a touch of a Black Metal influence here and there, as well as a decent amount of technicality that both Gorguts and Death fans would be pleased with.
Deep growling shouts are the singer’s weapon of choice, although these are backed up with some quite savage screams where necessary.
These are quite involved songs that have a fair bit going on, but the band still know when to ease off the complexity and just go straight for the throat with a blasting assault when they need to. There’s a lot of good ideas and interesting added extras on these tracks and it’s clear that Cult of Lilith have high ambition for themselves.
A very promising start for this new band. I look forward to what they do next.
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